Legend of Zelda: A New Day
by Snake Staff
Summary: Zelda presides over a massive, modernizing Hyrule after the sudden attack on her father. Facing rebellion from her subjects and plotting from her minsters, can she make it? And what of her old friend Link, sent to stop evil and save Hyrule?
1. So it begins

Zelda Hylia, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of Hyrule and Acting President of Hyrule, was nervous. She paced the floor of her command room alone, trying to somehow salvage the situation. It had begun a mere 3 days ago…

_President Daphenes Hylia and his wife, Lavatria Hylia, were on their way to the grand opening of Hyrule's first modern electric dam. A marvel of Hylian engineering, the dam was to provide affordable electricity to the Lanayru Province, enabling increased living standards as well as industrial development in the newly incorporated province. In this way, he had hoped to pacify Goron fears of being made into a backwater, as well as to garner goodwill and support amongst the common people, whose lives could be greatly improved._

_ As the President's car was driving out of the main gate of Hyrule City, a tremendous explosion erupted from the earth beneath his car. The reinforced car was flung several feet in the air and rolled over several times before coming to a halt, smoking._

17 bystanders were killed in the explosion, with some 35 more injured. The real damage, though, was to Daphenes and Lavatria. Lavatria, Zelda's mother, was killed almost instantly, her brain suffering irreparable damage. Daphenes was not much better off. He was technically still alive, but in a severe coma. No one knew if he would ever wake up again. Even if he did, there was no telling what kind of brain damage the man had suffered. He might never again be fit to rule.

With both her parents either dead or incapacitated in a single day, Zelda had been forced to seize the reins of power unexpectedly early. After a quick state funeral for her mother, Zelda had declared martial law and appointed herself Acting President "for the duration of this crisis". She had had good reason to.

Modern Hyrule was entirely the result of Daphenes' dream. A visionary and idealist, he imagined a unified world of peace and prosperity, where all races could work together in harmony, free of war or civil strife. To reach this utopia, however, certain measures had to be taken, many of which could be considered rather unethical. Daphenes had lied, cheated, broken treaties, and had noncompliant leaders assassinated in order to bring the gigantic nation together. While he had generally avoided openly warring against another nation (except for a few times), he had not hesitated to oppress resistance within them to himself, nor to fabricate history to attempt to mold the next generation.

Daphenes had enjoyed widespread support primarily among the Hylians, his people. They formed much of the army, almost all of the officer corps, and almost all of the high-ranking administrative officials. It was not due to racism on his own or Zelda's part, but rather to the simple and undeniable fact that Hylians were simply much more reliable in those positions than other species were. Several times non-Hylian units of the military, particularly those asked to suppress uprisings among their own people, had mutinied and joined the resistance to Daphenes leadership, whereas Hylians almost never did so. Zelda had attempted to mitigate these problems as Supreme Commander by assigning Hylian officers to these units, as well as assigning them to patrol the territory of species other than their own, but the problems persisted nonetheless.

The situation in the Hylian military simply reflected the wider social problems facing Hyrule. Non-Hylians tended to resist the integration of their nations into Hyrule, which in turn necessitated Hylians to form the primary administrative and policing forces, which in turn lead to greater feelings of exclusion and marginalization, which lead to greater resistance. The vicious cycle had continued despite all attempts by Daphenes to remedy the situation. He had instituted mandatory schooling, where students learned the glories of Hryule and the necessity of the world's unification, but the parents of non-Hylian children had repeatedly counteracted this propaganda once the children returned home. He had done his best to integrate loyal non-Hylians into the government and the economy, but they were few in number and were often looked upon by their own kind as collaborators and stooges of an occupying power. Often, Daphenes had had to resort to pure military force to put down riots and rebellions among Gorons, Zora, Kokiri, Deku, Gerudo, Moblins, etc. Daphenes had been even considering the radical step of removing children from their parents completely for several years to ensure social harmony. Plans for such a step were being drawn up upon when he was injured in the bombing.

Now many rebellious non-Hylians sensed weakness in the regime. There were riots throughout Hyrule, mostly by non-Hylians, although some pro-government mobs were out in the streets as well. There had been violent clashes between various mobs throughout the country, and even in the capital. Hyrule City was considered a crowning achievement of Daphenes, the most modern city in the world, with technology and magic successfully fused to produce many wonders. Much of the population was non-Hylian, a result of Daphenes attempts at integration. Even here, it was estimated that some quarter of a million (out of a population of around 3 million) people were out in the streets. Riots were everywhere, as anti- and pro-government mobs clashed openly, leaving hundreds dead. More than three quarters of the city's police stations had been hit with Molotov cocktails or other firebombs. Against this, Zelda had some 5,000 elite Republican Guard and around 100 tanks on hand to restore order to the city. The remainder of the military was dispersed throughout the country, though communications had been erratic at best since the riots began.

Zelda sighed. She opened her door and said to her chief bodyguard, Impa, "Alright, let them in."

Impa nodded and walked into another room. Within a minute, the High Council filed into Zelda's command room (she could have taken over her father's office, but felt far more comfortable among the military trappings of her own).

"There they all are," she thought, "I wonder - how many of them are even now plotting my downfall?" It was a frightening thought, but a possibility she could not afford to ignore. The longer the riots went on, the more weakness she showed, and the more likely it was that they might desert her, or seek to unseat her altogether. That would be a disaster and she knew it. She was the last active force that had enough of her father's authority about her and enough of a powerbase amongst the military to control the entire empire. If she fell, it would mean a massive civil war and almost certainly the end of her father's dream. There was no telling what fate might await Hylians as a race should she fall either. There was certainly no lack of people who might take out their hatred of Hyrule on the Hylian people as a whole. It was not inconceivable that her race would be subjected to genocide should she fall. She vowed not to let that happen.

Zelda looked around at the members of her father's High Council. To her right was High Administrator Quavaris, a thoroughly unimaginative little bureaucrat. The Hylian man was content simply to head the empire's vast bureaucracy and seemed to have a psychological need for order, as well as a need to be told what to do. This made him little threat to her on his own, although the last few days of rioting had taken a toll on his mental state, and it was not inconceivable that if she did not do something soon, he might try a find a new master. To Quavaris' right sat Minister of the Treasury Latela, a female Zora and the only one on the council. She was quiet and often rather mysterious, but was a financial genius and always managed to keep Hyrule's treasuries full. Zelda felt nervous around her, as she had little idea of the Zora's motivations or goals, but the truth was she needed the money Latela brought in an thus put up with her. To Latela's right was Minister of Science Gatavar. The aging, near-bald Hylian was brilliant mechanist, as he had pioneered the development of the modern engine from a fusion of machinery and spells, and had personally designed and built the first tanks and armored vehicles. Zelda felt most comfortable with him, as she had known him for many years and had been primarily responsible for his appointment to his current position. He was loyal to her and looked to remain that way. Sitting across from Gatavar was Minister of the Interior Hadira, a female Hylian. Head of the secret police whose job it was to keep dissent in line, she was made to look incompetent by the recent riots but maintained her power because Zelda currently lacked a viable candidate to replace her with. Zelda knew little of the secret police in general and Hadira in particular, which meant that she had little idea of whether or not the woman would support her. To Hadira's right was Gorther, a male Goron and Minister of Information. It was his job to control the information people could get over radios or through printed media. It was odd then, how quickly the news of Daphenes' state spread around the country. Zelda suspected him of disloyalty, but she had precious little proof, and the others could very well move against her should she act too rashly in moving against him. Finally, to Gorthar's right and on Zelda's left, sat Deneron, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, a male Hylian. It was his job to negotiate with what few independent nations remained, with the ultimate goal of integrating the into Hyrule. He was Zelda's most vocal critic, arguing that she was a weak fool who lacked her father's ability to rule. He had said that she had been far too slow in reacting to the situation, and that the time she had used for her mother's funeral should have been used instead to squash the riots in their infancy. Zelda had not believed that was possible to do once the information had gotten out. Thus far, he had limited himself to verbal criticism… so far as she knew.

Of all of them, Zelda only really trusted Gatavar not to conspire against her, but even he might turn against her should she fail to quell the riots and punish those responsible for the recent bombing quickly enough.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the High Council, let's skip the formalities today." Zelda began, "We all know why we're here. We need a strategy for quelling the riots. Efforts to keep the contained and wait for them to burn themselves out have failed, and efforts to simply use the secret police to quell them by arresting provocateurs have also failed. I'm considering authorizing the Republican Guard to clear out one section of the city at a time, leaving behind a safe, secured area people would want to flee too rather than flee from. This should convince the people that the rioters are the ones making things worse, not us. That way, we could remove popular support from them. Does anyone else have any other ideas?"

Deneron snorted, "The Republican Guard? The time for them was days ago. Madam President, you must see reason here. A small force of elites would be effective against a mutiny or an outright rebel assault, but against such a rioting populace as we have now, they would be like attempting to dam Zora River with a single log. Madam, you must not hesitate. Maximum force is called for here, and we must call in the full military. If necessary, we must level entire portions of the city to end this. Sending in the Republican Guard would only give the enemy propaganda when they inevitably fail."

Zelda raised an eyebrow. "The full military? May I remind you, _Minister_, that to do such a thing would result in not only tens of thousands of our own civilians being killed, but also the loss of billions of Rupees worth of assets, and the inevitable loss of many of our other provinces."

"So what? Those can be retaken later! We must quash this uprising in this city with maximum force, _now_, before we're overthrown!"

"And then what? We'll have lost half the country, our capital will be in ruins, and we will face years of grueling war with a very uncertain outcome. Our economy might well collapse, and we could face another uprising within ten years' time, from people tired of a broken economy and with sending their sons and daughters out to fight a potentially futile war. And my father's dream will almost certainly be dashed. I for one believe that this can be quelled _without_ losing most of our country and leveling our capital."

"Leveling our capital? Nonsense. We need only crack down with as much force as possible, and the rioters will flee before us."

"And if they don't? What then?"

"The same could be said of your plan to use the Republican Guard."

"Except that rather than simply quashing them by force and exterminating everyone at once, my plan calls for a measured surge to clear out one area at a time, leaving behind an ordered, safe area. Once we demonstrate that they'll be better off not rioting, our citizens won't riot."

"And why not use sufficient force to clear them all out at once?"

"Because it'll cost us the rest of the country! And because it will cost more lives. We have to think about more than our capital."

Deneron got to his feet. "They're won't _be_ a country if the capital falls!"

Zelda got to hers."Your plan would send us into an uncertain war for years! Maybe even decades!"

"_Your_ plan will see us overthrown!"

"Your plan will see millions dead!"

"Your-"

"SHUT UP!"

Both Zelda and Deneron turn to stare at the normally quiet Latela, who had just stood up and screamed at them.

"Deneron, Zelda, I'm surprised at both of you. Shouting at each other like a pair of spoiled brats! Can't we hold a discussion in a peaceful, civilized manner?"

Zelda sighed and sat back down. Deneron took a breath, and then did the same.

"Now then, that's better. As Supreme Commander and Acting President, Zelda has the authority in this situation. The rest of us can ultimately only give her advice. Therefore, Madam President, do what you think is best."

"_Thank you_, Latela." Zelda nodded. "Now then, do the rest of you have any new ideas?"

"Use propaganda to spread the image of a peaceful, benevolent government and an unruly mob of brutal thugs," suggested Gorthar, "but I also support Deneron's idea. The capital is too important to be lose."

"The Ministry of the Interior stands by President Zelda's plan and will assist however possible," commented Hadira. "Losing the rest of the country is too high a price to pay."

"The Ministry of Science backs Zelda," announced Gatavar.

Quavaris said nothing. Deneron scowled but declined to comment any further.

"Then it's settled. The Republican Guard begins clearing the city within the hour, starting with vital industrial and communications zones. This meeting is adjourned."

Deneron was first out the door, muttering angrily to himself. The other filed out quietly, disappearing back to their respective duties. Zelda called Hadira to wait.

"Yes Madam President?"

"I want you to review my plans of the Republican Guard operation and position your agents to follow them in and ensure the area is secure. You failed to prevent this from happening. Now you can make up for that. Don't fail me."

Hadira's face was completely blank, as usual. "As you wish, Madam President. Will that be all?"

"Yes, you may go."

Hadira nodded and marched out the door. Impa closed it behind her as she left.

Zelda sat down and sighed. "Well, that didn't go as well as I'd hoped. Only half of them even bothered to say something in support of me. What might they be doing behind my back, I wonder?"

Impa gave a faint smile, "I'm sorry, Madam President, but I'm no good at intrigues. What they're up to is anyone's guess."

"You can call me Zelda, you know."

Impa shook her head "Doesn't feel right for someone of your station next to mine. Incidentally, your father's personal assistant wants to see you. Say it's urgent."

"Well what are you waiting for? Let her in!"

Kathalia, the secretary of Daphenes, was shown into Zelda's command room. The rather scrawny looking woman was clutching a file marked "Top Secret".

"Zelda, you really need to-" Impa glared. Kathalia grumbled and rolled her eyes. "_Madam President_, you urgently need to read this. Your father was working on this before… before…"

Zelda rolled her eyes and sighed, "Before he was reduced to a comatose vegetable. Don't play word games with me, I'm 29. I'm no ignorant child."

"Right. Of course. Here" She handed Zelda the file.

"Is that all?"

"Yes"

"You may go."

Zelda looked at the file she had just been handed as Impa escorted Kathalia out the door. It was labled, "The Triforce and Ganondorf". Zelda raised an eyebrow at that. The Triforce? Everyone knew what that was. Supposedly, the goddesses had created some sort of mystical object that could grant its owner any wish, and then left it somewhere (where depended on who was telling the tale, Zelda had heard in another world, at the center of the world, in the sky, in a hidden temple, among other things). Utter nonsense, of course. Merely a child's fairytale, like the supposed shadowstalkers or the Dreaded Treanderoth that supposedly lived in the center of a mountain (people had dug there, it didn't). No one denied the existence of the goddesses or of magic, but to believe the makers of the universe would do something so absurd was ridiculous on its face. Nowadays it was merely used as a symbol of the three goddesses in religious practices. Zelda wondered why her father, always a practical man, was wasting time and money on a fairy tale.

Ganondorf, on the other hand, was well known to her. A rare Gerudo male and a rebel, he was known to be a powerful sorcerer and notoriously hard to capture or eliminate. She had personally directed at least three military operations aimed solely at his death, without success. She knew of more directed by the previous Supreme Commander. While Ganondorf claimed in public to be a proponent of independence for all, everything they had in their psychological profile of him suggested otherwise. He was known for being power-hungry, even from his youth, and for having an absolutely vicious and unpredictable temper accompanied by a sadistic streak. He was known to have had agents who failed him set on fire, magically healed, and then set on fire again and again just so he could hear their screaming, until he got bored. His peons often joined for his rhetoric about independence and freedom, but stayed because they were either magically brainwashed or simply too terrified of the man to dare attempt escape. Hylian agents had had a notoriously hard time keeping captured members of his group alive, as they were known to commit suicide rather than risk falling back into Ganondorf's hands. Everything about him indicated that he merely wanted to replace Hyrule with his own empire, and that he would make a horrible ruler. Zelda wondered what he had to do with a child's fairy tale.

It was, therefore, a great shock to Zelda to read the first line of the first document in the file.

"The intelligence is clear and undeniable. The Triforce exists, and Ganondorf seeks to claim it."

Zelda spent the next hour or so mulling over dozens of intelligence documents relating to the Triforce, the Master Sword (which she had also believed to be fictional), Ganondorf, and various relics and temples scattered throughout the world.

By the time Zelda was finished, the Republican Guard operation to clear the city had begun, but that was the last thing on her mind. She _bad_ to move, and move quickly. She needed someone to find and secure the Triforce for her, not only so that it would never come into Ganondorf's hands, but also to finally create the utopia she and her father before her had strived so long for.

"But who to send?" Zelda thought.

She rather obvious had to pick someone who could be trusted to be absolutely loyal to herself, even when faced with the chance at ultimate power. That left surprisingly few candidates. She could always go herself of course, but without her Hyrule would almost certainly collapse into a devastating civil war. The Triforce would do her little good if everything was already lost, and besides, she still wasn't entirely sure it was real. So who to send? Impa? No, she was needed here, and while a dangerously competent bodyguard and aid, was not much of an adventurer. Gatavar? The man was far too old. A unit of Republican Guard? She hardly knew them well enough to trust them _that _much. A secret police commando team? She trusted them even less. Who to pick, who to pick?

Then it hit her.

"Impa?" she called out, "I need you to go get and old friend of mine."

So what do you think? Reviews please!


	2. Old Friend

Lieutenant Link Hendra, soldier of the Republican Guard, was looking down his rifle's sights. Before him was a crowd of angry rioters, both Hylian and non. There was screaming, cursing, punching, kicking, and other such behavior among the rioters as the Guard began firing.

Link had his rifle aimed squarely at a female Goron carrying what looked to be a homemade Molotov cocktail. She was showving her way through the rioters towards the Guard, obviously intending to throw the firebomb at them.

"Out of the way! Come on, move you sonofabitch!" thought Link as several rioters got between his line of sight and the Goron. They were alternatively fleeing and attempting to charge.

"Come on. Come closer. That's iiiiiiiiiiit… There!"

With a *crack* from his rifle and a bit of recoil, Link took his shot. He nailed the Goron in the head, and she fell backwards with a *thud* of finality. A ghost of a smile touched Link's lips. For him, this was more than simply about maintaining order. This was about _revenge_.

_On the first day of the rioting, Link had come to his elderly parents' house, deep in one of the more unstable districts, to move them to safety. They were in their late 60's, and he couldn't in good conscience leave them to the mob._

_ What Link had found had horrified, saddened, and infuriated him. His parents' home, burned to the ground. Inside were two corpses far too charred to be recognizable._

Link fervently prayed to all three goddesses that he would get the chance to put a bullet through the head of the sonofabitch responsible for the senseless firebombing. His parents were harmless, retired old Hylians. Why would anyone want to burn their house down – and in the process sentence them to an excruciating death? Link fell nothing but visceral hatred for the animals behind the attack. He knew he would likely never know whether or not any of the rioters he killed were behind the attack, but he was utterly devoid of any sympathy for those he saw as a herd of rabid dogs in need of being put down.

Within minutes the rioters had fled from the general area the Republican Guard had been sent into. The streets were littered with several dozen corpses, mostly rioters, but also a handful of the Guard who'd gotten careless and allowed himself to get too close to the rioters. Behind the Guard came agents of the secret police, whose job it was to keep the newly-secured area safe and riot-free. The Republican Guard tanks began to roll out to reclaim another section of the city. Link moved to rejoin his squad, who had spread out to cover more ground, but felt a hand on his shoulder.

Full of adrenaline and suppressed rage, Link's instincts and training took over. He swung his rifle butt around, seeking the being's head. He thought that an untrained civilian wouldn't see this coming, as they had made the amateurish mistake of alerting him to their presence. He was therefore quite surprised when someone caught the rifle butt and held it in an iron grip.

"Attacking a fellow soldier is grounds for court-marshal," announced an uncomfortably familiar voice, "But I'm willing to forgive you – just this once."

Link turned. It was as expected. "Impa"

"Link"

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be guarding Zelda?"

"_President_ Zelda sent me on a mission – to find you."

"In the middle of an operation? Why? Is she lonely or something?"

Impa just glared.

"I kid. I kid. So, what does she want?"

"Our president wishes to see you on some urgent business. Why she would choose a disrespectful young lout like you, I have no idea. As to what the business is, I again have no idea. You will have to ask her yourself, and she will tell you what you need to know."

"Yessir!"

Link was escorted into Hyrule's Military Command Center by Impa, then frog marched through numerous security checkpoints within, until he finally arrived at Zelda's official command room. Impa stepped forward and knocked briskly.

"Lieutenant General Impa here with Lieutenant Link Hendra to see Supreme Commander Zelda."

"Oh for goddess' sake, Impa!" came a voice from within the office, "Why do you always have to be such a stickler for procedure? A simple 'It's Impa, I've got Link' would have done fine." A sigh. "Just come in."

Impa opened the door and Link was pulled in. He saw Zelda for the first time in some 3 years, standing over a table with documents and maps scattered all over it. She looked considerably more mature now. She was wearing a standard military dress uniform above the waist, except in a rich, dark purple with gold rank insignia. Below her waist was an ankle-length purple skirt of the same purple. Glossy black army standard jackboots emerged from beneath the skirt.

Zelda looked up from the map she had been studying. "Thank you Impa. You may go."

Impa saluted, "Sir!" before exiting and closing the door behind her.

As soon as the door closed, Zelda rushed Link and grabbed him in a bear hug. She had grown surprisingly strong for her size.

"Oh Link, it's been too long! I heard about what happened to your parents… I'm sorry. I should have crushed the rioters before that." She looked up. "Can you forgive me?"

"_You_? You're not the one who firebombed their house!"

"No, but I wasted time when I should have been cracking down harder. I could have controlled those riots, had I not wasted time attending mother's funeral."

"Don't say things like that, Zelda. I don't blame you."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Thanks."

Zelda released Link and walked over to behind her desk. "In that case Link, I have a favor I must ask of you – a big one."

He shrugged. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it can't be _that_ big a deal or you'd be using an army instead of little old me. I almost suspect that you're simply using this as an excuse to see me again, now that your father isn't here to stop us."

Zelda and Link had met when they were a mere 4 and 5 years old, respectively. Link's parents had been attending a reception for government functionaries, and had left Link in the care of a palace nanny, who was also at the time caring for children of other government officials, most notably Zelda. The two had hit it off quickly, sharing major interests, primarily revolving around exploration of the Hyrule palace, and later, Hyrule City itself. They had run off together to explore and had given half the palace a heart attack until they were found, several hours later, playing amongst crates in the basement. While many had expected then-king Daphenes to be enraged, he surprised everyone by laughing the incident off and arranging for Zelda and Link to be schooled together, believing that friendships with more common people were necessary to be a good ruler and a good person in general. However, when Zelda had assumed the post of Supreme Commander upon the retirement of the previous one, Daphenes had felt that her close relationship with Link might distract her from her new responsibilities, and so had banned the two from seeing each other. Link had, by that time, entered the Republican Guard out of a sense of duty, but still felt inclined to explore, as did Zelda. Daphenes had worried that this might lead to the two simply eloping together to go explore and see the world.

Zelda gave him a small smile, "If only, Link. I'm giving this assignment to you because you're the only one I trust to be loyal enough to do it and able enough to do it. I need you to capture the Triforce for me."

Link actually laughed a bit. "The Triforce? The _Triforce_? You want me to go and chase some fairy tale for you?"

Zelda sighed. "Link, this is no laughing matter. I need you. You're one of the people I trust most in the world, and the most suited for this task."

Link stopped laughing. "You're serious?"

"Deadly serious, I'm afraid."

"Alright, assuming this is real, why not use an army? Why me?"

"Because you're loyal, Link. If I sent an army, how could I trust them not to seize the Triforce for themselves? I know you wouldn't do that."

"Why not go yourself or come with me?"

"You know the answer to that, Link. If I leave, the country collapses."

"Why now?"

"Because I've just found out about it – and because intelligence indicates Ganondorf is dangerously close to getting it. But don't take my word for it – read our intelligence files yourself." She pushed a rather fat folder at Link.

Link took the folder and sat down to read. He grew visibly pale at some points, as he knew something of Ganondorf's reputation and shuddered at the implications of the man getting his wish. After around an hour, he set the folder down.

"So what exactly do you want me to do?"

"Travel to the Temple of Eternity. Claim the Master Sword. Seize the Triforce and bring it back to me."

Link swallowed. "That seems a lot to ask of just one man."

"True, but who could I send along? Who else could I trust to resist the lure of ultimate power on my behalf? I need you, Link."

"Alright, I'll do it."


	3. Perception

"Excellent," said Zelda, who had been studying documents and barking orders at various subordinates through her desk telephone. She looked up at Link from the document she had been reading, and her stern expression softened somewhat.

"Link, I… I'm sorry that we can't spend much time catching up, but I really have a job I have to do. I'd like nothing more than to chat and adventure for days or weeks at a time like we used to do, but it's my country now and I have to keep it alive. I need you on this, and I need it now."

Link nodded somewhat sadly. "I understand. I've been too busy to even have my own parents buried, and I'm just a lowly lieutenant. I can't imagine how hard life must be for the Supreme Commander. Maybe… maybe when this whole thing is over, we could go out and have fun mountain climbing or jungle hiking. Like we used to."

Zelda nodded and smiled slightly. "I… would like that." Then her expression hardened back into that of the stern military leader desperately trying to keep Hyrule from going up in flames. "Regardless of my personal feelings, I need you to go, now. Take this," she handed Link a signed document, "it will get you into the armory and give you access to any weapons, vehicles, armor, or magic items you may want. Take anything you feel you may need and head for Fayru Jungle. What's left of the Temple of Eternity rests there. If the Master Sword is anywhere, it'll be there. Retrieve it and bring me the Triforce." Her eyes became intense, "Do **not** fail me. Now **go**!" she practically shouted.

Link practically ran out her office door.

…

Zelda sighed as the door closed behind Link. She felt somewhat guilty about being harsh to Link, as well as doing little more at their first reunion in years than snapping orders at him. Link had never been anything but loyal, and he had even been working so hard for her and Hyrule as to not even take the time off required to bury his parents over the past few days. That made her feel even more guilty. She had taken the time to bury her mother, even if she had done it quickly. Was Deneron right? Was that a foolish act of sentimental self-indulgence in a time of crisis? Was she a weak fool who should step down?

Zelda brushed away these thoughts. "That was then, and this is now," she thought. She could not afford to be afflicted by self-doubt in such a time of crisis. If she projected anything but the utmost confidence and authority, she would almost certainly fall. Her supporters would abandon her; afraid of being dragged down by someone who was apparently an indecisive, weak-hearted fool. Her enemies would be drawn to her doubt and weakness like sharks to blood. Ambitious generals and ministers would use the perceived weakness of her leadership to declare their own empires, likely backed by her own former supporters, desperate to avoid going down with her ship. Therefore, she must look, act, and be strong, decisive, and firmly in command if she was to hold to her grip on power. Otherwise, all was lost. She could afford to feel guilty for no one, not even Link.

Zelda summoned up her magic. She was no master sorceress, able to call down hurricanes and earthquakes on her enemies. She could not summon plagues or blessings upon the land she ruled (however tenuously). She was, all in all, a sorceress of some average talent. The military had a policy of scanning its members to find potential magic-wielders to be trained in the arts. As the president's daughter, Zelda had of course received such a scanning and her parents had been pleased to discover that, unlike themselves, their daughter could use magic. Zelda herself, however, had never been particularly interested in magic. The world of tactics, strategy, and logistics were more fascinating to her, and of course she also had to learn politics. Thus, she had never pushed her magical talents as far as her instructors believed they could go. Still, weaving a temporary magic aura that added an air of charisma and authority to anything she said was not beyond her, and would prove very useful at her next meeting.

"Alright Impa," Zelda called, "You can go and get them now."

A few minutes later around 2 dozen people crowded into her office, necessitating extra furniture. Many of the bankers, business owners, entrepreneurs, and other financially important people seemed uncomfortable with meeting in a military command center like this. Zelda had considered meeting with them in the same plush room her father once had, but on the whole had decided that it was necessary to establish her dominance over them before making them comfortable. Having them come to her, here, did an admirable job of impressing on them just who was in charge now.

These men and women before her were some of the most financially influential figures in Hyrule. They owned businesses and banks, ran corporations and factories, and generally controlled much (although by no means all) of Hyrule's private sector economy. What made them so important was the financial backing that they had provided for her father's regime and now for hers. One could hardly modernize and develop the economy if no one was willing to do business in your land. Hyrule's taxation policies had been engineered to encourage investment, and the government promised to keep law and order, to allow the economy to grow safely. The flip side was, of course, that these people were expected to stand behind the regime when push came to shove. Before this, they generally had Now, with Daphenes in a coma, it was Zelda's job to convince them to maintain their support from the regime in this time of crisis. No matter how brilliant your Treasury Minister, you would be able to do very little if all your financial backers refused to do business with you because they thought you couldn't keep the peace and/or were a doomed investment.

Zelda stood up. "Ladies and gentleman, I thank you for agreeing to meet me here today. I am here to reassure you that I will not be changing my father's policies vis-à-vis your businesses, nor will I make Hyrule into a country unfriendly to private businesses. On that, you have my word."

"Well, it's not _you_ we're worried about, is it? It's the bloody mob!"

Zelda turned to the man who had just spoken, a Joseph Tydon, and glared daggers at him. He seemed to shrink, almost cowering before her. She made sure he was thoroughly intimidated by using a spark of magic to give her eyes an intimidating glare.

"Then let me reassure you, _Mr. Tydon_, that the government of Hyrule remains strong and committed to defending the lives and property of all its citizens, including yours. Perhaps you failed to notice, but we are cracking down on the mob even as we speak. The military and interior ministry of Hyrule are even now working together to bring these riots to heel. We _will_ crush the rioters, we _will_ defend your lives and property, and we _will_ restore order to the nation."

"And how can you be so sure? Mere days ago your forces failed to foil an attack on the most important man in the country! How can you say you will defend us when you can't even defend yourselves?" said a woman in the back.

Zelda nodded. "An excellent and perfectly valid question, Ms. Goldena. As you are probably all aware, we have gone to full red alert and instituted marshal law. My father is where he is because we were negligent and complacent in the peace of Hyrule City. I assure you, this is not the case now, and it will not be so going forward. The need for tighter security has clearly been established, and my government will do all it can to that end. This country will be saved."

"And why do you think that? There must be millions of people up in arms across the nation! How can you be so confident in your ability to suppress this revolt?"

Zelda gave a confident smile. "Very simple, Mr. VanDanien. The Hylian Armed Forces are the strongest, most modern, most well-funded, largest army this world has ever seen. We have over 500,000 men under arms. We have tanks, artillery, and Gatling guns. We have trains to move huge amounts of troops in record times, and radio communications to command and coordinate military operations of unprecedented scale. What do these so-called 'rebels' have? Nothing but a handful of homemade firebombs and some rocks. They have no leader, no communications, no organization, and no coherent agenda. They have nothing but blind anger at Hyrule for one imagined offense or another. How can they win? History very plainly shows that no revolution without its own organization or coherent message has ever won. We have everything on our side: time, money, transportation, communications, weapons, supplies, and organization. Just think of this: when these rioters burn down their own neighborhoods, places of livelihood, and places of recreation, they are only harming themselves. Many will soon realize, if they haven't already, that what they do is futile and only causes them misery. Blind anger must soon give way to reason; I'm sure all of you know that. So that is why, Mr. VanDanien, I do not fear this mob."

"You are absolutely sure you can save this country from civil war, then?"

"I would bet my life and soul on it, Mrs. LeBie. We _will_ win, be certain of that. Now then, will there be any further questions?"

Some of her audience looked around and whispered amongst themselves, but no further questions were raised.

"If that is all then, I must resume my other responsibilities as chief of state. You may go."

…

As the last of the businessmen closed the door behind him, Zelda released the spell she had been maintaining over herself and sat down. In truth, those who were skeptical of what she had said had every right to be. While she had spoken the truth about her lack of fear of the mob itself, it was what the mob might inspire that frightened her. If public perception could be turned against her by these riots, if enough senior officials determined to bet against her due to ambition or simply out of fear, she might be deposed far more easily than she had implied to the business owners. "Perception" her father had told her, "Is just as important in politics as is reality, if not more so." That was why around 250,000 people could be peaceful citizens of Hyrule City one day and vicious rioters the next: they perceived weakness in the government's control even though, factually, very little had actually changed, except in people's minds. She had to show the world that those who doubted her were very much mistaken.

…

Link, rather intimidated and confused by Zelda's uncharacteristic and unprovoked outburst, made good time on his way to the Republican Guard's armory.

"H-halt!" yelled one of the guards at the gate, raising his rifle.

"Everyone's twitchy now," thought Link as he slowed down and stuck his hands in the air.

"Authorized p-personnel only!" shouted the rather young-looking guard.

"I have authorization from the Supreme Commander herself? Does that count?"

"The S-Supreme Commander?" he motioned for Link to come closer. Link did so, very slowly, as the man and his partner kept their rifles aimed squarely at Link the whole time.

"S-show it to m-me."

Link offered the man his document. He cautiously took it, while his partner stayed several steps back, rifle raised.

After a minute or so, the man turned to his partner. "It's ok. He's legitimate." The other man slowly lowered his rifle.

"What's got you guys so nervous?" asked Link, "The riots are mostly miles from here."

The man Link had handed his document to spoke, looking glum, "About an hour ago I lost my l-last partner. A man came near us in a uniform. Said he was authorized. We let him near us, and he shot two men down before I shot him."

Link's eyes widened, "Why? What could he have hoped to achieve?"

"I don't know, but it's got me on the edge."

Link looked sadly, "I'd love to stay and help you guys out, but I've got a mission of my own. Can I go in?"

The other man nodded and the two opened the gate to let him pass through.

…

Inside the armory was an assorted collection of every kind of weapon or vehicle a highly-paid elite guardsman could want. Rifles, pistols, knives, gatlings, bazookas, mortars, tanks, trucks, jeeps, APCs and more by the hundred. Field rations enough for an army for months. Equipment and uniforms for every type of terrain imaginable. Various enchanted items for purposes ranging from breathing underwater to walking over lava and through fire. It was a military man's idea of heaven.

Link had been in the armory before, but never alone, and never authorized to take whatever the hell he wanted. He spent several minutes examining various types of rifles and pistols, trying their weight and feel, as well as their capacity, accuracy, and range. In the end he decided he liked his current guns the best. His field knife was somewhat worn, though, so he replaced it with a shiny new, viciously sharp one. Since he was going to a jungle, he chose jungle-colored camouflage. He grabbed various magical items that seemed potentially useful, including ones for underwater breathing and for a short interval of flight. He chose a rugged-looking jeep and packed it full of ammunition, supplies, and survival equipment. Once Link felt he had all he might need for a potentially extremely hazardous journey into an ancient ruin at the heart of a distant jungle, he drove out of the armory and hit the road.


	4. Monster

The next morning, the fourth day of Zelda's rule, did not find Zelda particularly well-rested. Her dreams had been filled with apocalyptic visions of Hyrule in flames. Mocking laughter came from every side, while her father said nothing but stared at her in an accusatory manner. She had watched helplessly while everything and everyone she'd ever held dear burned up in fire, all the while staring at her. "Please," she had begged, "It's not my fault! Please, oh goddess, forgive me! Please!" The accusatory stares had only deepened, while the mocking laughter around her grew ever louder. It was then that she woke up, drenched in cold sweat, with Impa's hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Impa had asked, "I heard you screaming and came as fast as I could."

Zelda sat up slowly and shook her head. "No, it was… it was just a bad dream Just a nightmare. Nightmares can't hurt me."

"Do you need something? I could see about getting something for dreamless sleep whipped up for you."

"No. No, they're only nightmares. Not real."

Impa's expression softened and she looked Zelda in the eyes, "Zelda, listen to me. You were screaming and writhing and pleading in your bed. You need help. Just let me-"

"**No** Impa!" snapped Zelda. "What don't you get about the word NO!"

Impa took a step backwards and raised her arms as if being attacked, unused to such a reaction.

Zelda's eyes widened, as if she was just as shocked by her own outburst. She looked down at her own lap. "I'm… I'm sorry Impa, I really am. I don't know what came over me. But I think that I… I need these nightmares. I need them to help me keep in mind how much rides on me, and what the cost will be if I fail."

Impa said, "Zelda, _listen to me_! No one in the world cares more for your well-being right now than I do. Have not I always been loyal? Have I not always sought the best for you?"

Zelda looked up and nodded, "You have."

"Then _listen_ to me! You _need_ help, Zelda! These nightmares do nothing but add to your burden. You don't need that. You have enough of a burden in the daytime. Sleep should be a restful escape for you, not somewhere else to burden yourself."

"You're wrong, Impa. This whole thing is my fault. I shoudn't have wasted time with my mother's funeral. I could have stopped this at the beginning if I hadn't been so selfish, so foolishly sentimental…"

Impa's eyes went wide, "_How dare you_! How _dare_ you accuse yourself of being at fault! You've been sacrificing your every waking moment for Hyrule! Now you even want to sacrifice your sleeping ones too! Blaming yourself does neither you nor Hyrule any good! If any one person can be blamed, it's whoever set off the bomb, and the Interior Ministry for failing to stop it!"

Zelda shook her head, "I could have stopped this, I just know I could. I was just too selfish."

"Selfish? _You_? Why-"

Zelda's face suddenly contorted into a mask of rage. "How dare I? How dare _you_ talk back to your president? Get out! NOW!"

"But... I just…"

"NOW, IMPA!"

Impa fled.

…

The next day, Zelda had arrived at her office sleepy, as she had been unable to get anymore sleep after the chasing Impa away. Her aid looked in a concerned mood today, but said nothing. Zelda, for her part, felt guilty about her outburst but continued to believe that the state of the country was her fault and that the nightmares helped her keep her focus, and therefore declined to say anything to Impa.

The news she received in her office was something of a mixed bag. On the one hand, the riots in the capital had almost entirely been suppressed by now. On the other hand, riots continued to spring up in other parts of the country, and she wasn't sure exactly what to do about it.

As she was pondering the question, her telephone rang. She picked it up, "Zelda here. Report."

"General Patterosi. Forbosa has fallen. Unknown numbers of rebels and rioters now occupy the city in its entirety. Rebel affiliation unknown. City was taken in a surprise attack last night. Orders?"

Zelda paled, her mouth hanging open. This was **bad**. While Forbosa itself was a fairly isolated backwater mining town, the repercussions of this could stretch far and wide. That fact that a city had fallen to a rebel group after one mere night, on her watch, had potentially gigantic implications. Now, both the rebels and her own supporters would see her as weak and vulnerable. How could she not hold her own cities? What kind of pathetic ruler was she, if she had such a gigantic army at her command, only to see it driven away from its cities by a comparative handful of rebels while she was asleep? Why would anyone stand behind her if she failed to keep them safe, not only from riots, but from rebel attacks? The fact the Forbosa was a relatively unimportant backwater with a few hundred low-ranking soldiers with no armored vehicles to protect it didn't matter to public opinion. Most people would hear "President Zelda let a city fall to rebels on her 4th day in power", no matter the actual facts.

Only one possible solution presented itself: examples had to be made. She had to show that, no matter what they tried, the rebels stood absolutely no chance whatsoever, or the already unstable situation would collapse. It was evident that she would have to be much harsher this time than she had been; it seemed that merely sending in tanks and soldiers to clear out an area was not enough. The rebels would just fade into the civilian population, and would take her response the same way they evidentially had already taken it: she was weak and lacked willpower and imagination.

Zelda thought about how her selfish sentimentality had already cost too much vital time. She thought of how she could have prevented all this, but didn't because she wanted to sob over her mother's carcass. What had she been thinking? A true ruler must always strive to do what is best for their people, no matter what it cost them. Her father had taught her that. For the sake of her people, she must be merciless here.

"General, I want you to cut off all pipes, roads, and any other things going into Forbosa. Nothing gets in or out, do you understand? Bring up as much artillery as you can, and bombard the city indiscriminately. Do you hear me? I want every building in the place reduced to piles of rubble! Every last living thing dead! Don't let a single thing escape. Show them the price of rebellion!"

The general paused for several seconds. When he spoke next, his voice seemed shocked. "Are you… are you sure about this, Madam Pres-"

"You damn well better believe I'm sure! Do it! **Now**!"

Several more seconds of silence, "Yes, Supreme Commander."

"And one more thing."

"Yes?"

"See that you take photographs of the destruction. And send them to me.

"Very well."

"Good. Dismissed."

The general hung up.

Zelda sat down the phone and thought of what she had just done. She had condemned an entire city of several thousand, men, women, and children alike to die. The innocent and the guilty alike to perish in the bombardment. The bombardment _she_ had just ordered. What was she? What would history call her? Tyrant? Murderer? _Monster_?

Zelda embraced these thoughts. Wallowed in them even. She must sacrifice everything for her people if need be, including her own conscience. Why should she be selfish and let the world fall into ruin because she didn't want to feel bad about herself?

If Hyrule needed a monster, a monster it would get.

Zelda wept.


	5. Through the Swamp

Link rode the jeep quietly out of Hyrule City, using one of the lesser entrances near the east side of town. A majority-Hylian district, it had consequently experienced little in the way of riots in the last few days. In fact, Link observed numerous public displays of Hyrule's flag, in addition to portraits of both Daphenes and, increasingly, Zelda.

Once out of town, Link turned south and began the long drive towards the Fayru Jungle. From what he knew of the place, "jungle" was something of a misnomer. Perhaps it had been once, when they had named it, but these days it was mostly just a swamp. The Temple of Eternity had once played host to ancient religious practices, but for unknown reasons the reigning monarch had suddenly banned people from going near it, and it was eventually simply forgotten about. Not even archaeologists went there much anymore, what with the jungle being infested with monsters and rumors of some sort of curse.

Link brushed aside such rumors. Merely paranoid nonsense from fools who saw curses in every shadow. It was hard to think of a single archaeological site that _hadn't_ supposedly been cursed for whatever reason. Apparently some people believed that the ancients had been curse-happy lunatics, randomly cursing even the most trivial of sites. Link had once heard folklore that an ancient bath house, of all things, was cursed. Of course, the archaeologists who went in had been fine, just disappointed that there was nothing really of interest in there.

Of much greater concern to Link was the lack of any road going to and from the temple. This almost certainly meant he'd have to walk, or rather wade, through miles and miles of swamp to get at some ancient, crumbling ruins. He'd have to be careful that the muck didn't damage his equipment, particularly his rifle and pistol. He'd have to avoid being eaten by numerous large, predatory beasts that were known to lair in the area. And then he'd have to dig some rusty old blade out of some crumbling ruins. Goody.

Thoughts of the "Master Sword" brought Link back to thinking about the mission itself. Even after the intelligence he had read, the idea of the Triforce and the supposed Master Sword seemed ridiculous to him. While the intelligence showed that Ganondorf doubtless believed these things to be real and was making a real effort to obtain them, the fact of the matter was that the evidence that he was correct in this belief was somewhat thin, and relied mostly on the testimony of members of Ganondorf's group that the Hylian Army had managed to capture. Sure, they _claimed_ Ganondorf had used some occult rituals of unknown origin to divine information about these things, but how exactly did they know that these rituals actually did that or, for that matter, did anything at all? Furthermore, the entire reason to believe that the Master Sword (if it existed) was in whatever was left of the Temple of Eternity was that, several years ago, a member of the cleaning staff had discovered a few moldy old books in a wall when the royal library had been remade into the presidential library, and one of these claimed that the sword had been left there. Given that the book had no author and no title, and was dated by experts as having been jotted down around 3,000 years ago, Link was skeptical about accepting its claims as absolute fact. Still, Zelda apparently felt that the evidence of a threat was great enough to dispatch him, so here he was. He wished he had backup, but apparently Zelda didn't trust her subordinates as much as she let on.

…

For the most part, Link avoided the big cities and major routes on his way south. Too much risk of running into rioters, he felt. From what he knew, the country seemed to be much quieter. His estimations in this regard proved correct, and he arrived at a village on the outskirts of Fayru Jungle, Hadamat, a mere 2 days after leaving Hyrule City.

Link drove into the small village of around 100 people around sunset. The primarily Zora villagers eyed him curiously. This town was peaceful and out of the way, and hence only maintained a local police force and no military presence. People started whispering to each other, speculating what he could be doing here, almost as soon as they saw the obviously military jeep rolling in. Link ignored them and proceeded to the police station.

When he arrived at the small building, he observed that the place was almost negligently lax in the matter of its own security. No guards were posted, there was no gate, and the front door was unlocked. When he walked into the small lobby, he found the desk clerk, a female Zora, was not only unarmed but apparently had no way whatsoever to even set off the alarm if someone chose to burst in the front door.

"They'd never let us get away with this in the Guard," though Link, recalling the two men guarding the armory in Hyrule City.

The clerk, hearing his footsteps, looked up from something she was reading. "Yeah, what do you wa-" she checked herself on observing Link's military uniform, "Uh, my apologies Mr… uhhh…"

"Link. Lieutenant Link, of the Republican Guard."

The Zora swallowed nervously. The Guard were well known, and she wondered what an officer of an elite unit could be doing way out here in the middle of nowhere. She hoped the department wasn't in trouble for something. She might get arrested. Working up her best smile, she said, "So, Lt. Link, what brings you to our humble village? What can we do for you?"

Link wasn't buying the rather obviously insincere smile. "I only need to stay the night and requisition some supplies. I'll be taking a bit of a trip into the swamp come tomorrow morning. You don't have to worry about me arresting anybody, for the record."

The Zora breathed a mental sigh of relief. "Of course! I'll get you a place to sleep myself! Would you care for some refreshments?" It never hurt to suck up to an officer. He might reward her, or come to her side in some future dispute.

Link shook his head. "No thank you, just somewhere to put my head down for the night and anything you have that might be useful in the jungle."

"Yessir!", she moved to go into another room, before pausing and turning her head. "By the way, my name's Nafri."

"Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise." Nafri hurried off. She needed to get the best room she could find, and present it to him herself. That way he'd be more likely to reward her.

…

"Alright sir, this one over here will be yours for the night. Best one I could find. You need some help with your stuff?" Nafri asked as she held open the door of an apartment who's resident was currently away. Technically, it was illegal for her to just randomly give away his room without his consent, but she doubted Link knew that.

Link stuck his head in the room. "Uh, I don't mean to be picky, Ms. Nafri, but it seems the bed is low to the floor. Also, the room is _flooded_."

"What? You mean you Hylians don't like it like that?"

"What? No!"

"Oh shit." she thought. Having never actually met a Hylian before, she had assumed they preferred their sleeping quarters the same way Zora who lived on land did: with a floor below ground level and water up to the waste. This had been her idea of a luxury apartment; most land-dwelling Zora couldn't afford to regularly have fresh water pumped in. "Now I'm in for it," she thought.

"So, uhhh, what _do_ you Hylians like in your rooms?" she asked, desperate to keep him from having the time to get mad at her.

"Just somewhere normal and dry, with a warm bed."

"Oh, right." Nafri scurried off again.

…

Link sighed as he woke up the next morning. Nafri had been profusely apologetic about offering him a flooded apartment the other night, to the point where he had had to dismiss her just to get her to leave him alone. He sat up and stretched. He smelled an aroma of cooked fish. Looking around, he saw that someone had placed a tray full of fish on a table, eyes, skin and all. He sighed again.

…

After eating some rather tasteless rations for his breakfast, he walked outside. Sure enough, Nafri was waiting there for him.

"So, did you like your breakfast?"

"Nafri, Hylians skin and gut fish before we cook them."

"You do? I'm sorry sorry sorry sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry-"

"It's ok. Look, if I pay you, will you just leave me alone?

Her eyes gleamed. "Alright!"

Link removed several 100 rupee bills from an envelope he had picked up in the armory. Once, actual gems had been used as currency, but that had changed in the time of Daphenes' grandfather. "Here. Will this get you to just leave me alone?"

She snatched it. "Okthanksbye!" she said as she moved much faster than he had thought possible, as though she was afraid he'd take it back or something.

Link walked over to his jeep and began removing items. The first thing he pulled out was an enchanted pack that could store many times what it's size would suggest without adding significantly to its weight. He inserted clothes, supplies, magical items, and ammunition. After thinking about it, he removed his pistol and rifle ad inserted them too, leaving himself holding just a knife. He then slipped on a neckband engraved with runes, which was supposed to let him breathe underwater. He figured that would be faster and less likely to draw attention from predators than wading through the water, making noise and splashes.

Once Link felt he was ready, he marched over to the edge of the swamp. Several Zora were already in the water, looking for fish and medicinal herbs for their livelihoods. He pulled out his map and compass. After getting his bearings and figuring out exactly where he was supposed to go in this swamp, he dived in.

The water was warm, murky, and tasted like mud. Still, the neckband did its job, and Link found he was able to breathe, if not get the taste out of his mouth. He began to swim in the direct of the Temple of Eternity.

…

Several hours later, Link was tired, frustrated, and longing to be back on dry land again. He had had to hide inside the roots of swamp trees from mysterious (but large) silhouettes in the water several times. Furthermore, he could have sworn that he'd seen _something_ out of the corner of his eye several times, but every time he turned, there was nothing there. Nothing he could see, that is. While the neckband allowed him to breathe underwater, it didn't do much for his vision, and so he could barely see more than 10 feet in front of himself. This made him very nervous, as who knew what kind of creatures could be right in front of him, looking to feast on his succulent flash, and he'd never see the until it was too late. Furthermore, he keep running into trees and rocks, and had accumulated quite a headache. He'd veered off course several times, and had had to clamber out of the water and up a tree to look at his map and point him in the right direction. On top of all that, he wasn't used to this much swimming, and his arms and legs were aching.

Link did his best to shrug off these problems and move on. After all, he had a mission to complete. Looking ahead of him, he saw a small grove of a drifting plant. Having seen several such groves before and knowing the to be harmless weeds, he swam on regardless. He had just made it a few feet inside the grove when everything changed.

The plants suddenly stopped drifting passively and wrapped themselves around him. He felt himself being grabbed by the arms, legs, torso, and neck. Link flailed, desperately grabbing for his knife. The plants constricted themselves tighter the more he struggled. They were pulling him in all different directions, and he couldn't reach his knife. He felt one of his ribs crack. His airway was blocked, and he couldn't even reach his throat to pull it off. His vision started to blur…

Suddenly, movement. Then the grip on his neck was instantly broken. The plant hung there, dead. More movement. His torso was free. Still more. His legs could move. One last movement. His arms were released.

Link was gasping, sucking in muddy water for breath, but he still managed to see a rapidly fading shadow in the distance. It was too blurry to make much out.

Link immediately swam for the nearest tree outside the deadly patch of plants. Clambering out of the water, he was about to pull out his map to get his bearings, when he saw he didn't need to. The Temple of Eternity was in view.

...

AN: So how was it? I'd like some more reviews, please.


	6. Temple of Eternity

Link stared for a moment at the Temple of Eternity. Truth be told, it honestly didn't look like it merited such a grand (and in Link's opinion, way too melodramatic) title. The outside walls has crumbled inward in several places. Vines and ivy covered much of the structure. Any paint or symbols had long since been washed away, leaving bare grey stone with the occasional lump (which Link assumed had once been a statue or something) for the exterior. It looked rather unstable to his estimation. To top it off, half of it appeared to be flooded.

"Now I get to swim through that old ruin looking for an old sword that, likely as not, rusted away centuries ago. Oh joy," thought Link.

However, the sun was setting, and Link didn't feel like testing the odds of finding the Master Sword at night. Plus, he'd lose what little vision he still had underwater. Wandering around blindly and getting gulped down by some monster he never saw coming did not strike him as particularly appealing.

Instead, Link climbed higher into the tree he was on, finding a thick, stable branch some ways above the water. No point in testing how far the watery beasties were willing to jump for a snack, after all. Once he got onto his chosen branch, he removed his pistol and some rope from his bag. He first tied the bag, then himself to the tree branch. He put the pistol on his belt holster, just in case.

As he laid back against the branch, Link sighed. The whole mission seemed pointless to him, even after what he had read. He had accepted at the time more out of a willingness to help Zelda out than any real belief that these fairy tales were real. When he inevitably couldn't find it after a few days, what was he going to tell her? He supposed he'd have to think on that.

…

The next morning, Link awoke to the feeling of a shaking branch. Looking down, the cause was rather obvious: an enormous, slimy skinned newt-like thing with 6 legs, a frill, and a mouth full of sharp teeth. The creature was clawing at the tree beneath Link, clearly attempting to get up there and eat him.

Link simply smiled. "It's been too long since I've had some target practice. I think you'll do."

He pulled his pistol out of his holder and pointed it downwards. Taking careful aim, he fired. The *bang* echoed throughout the quiet swamp, sending birds flying off in a panic. The creature slumped over, a bullet hole between its eyes.

"Too easy," Link thought.

He calmly untied himself from the branch and slipped his pistol and rope back into the bag and sealed it again before adjusting his neckband and diving back into the water. He began to swim in the direction of the temple.

As he swam closer to the entrance, Link noticed a distinct increase in the number of shadowy figures in the gloom. He avoided these as best he could, but one appeared to take an interest in him. Sensing danger, he swiftly moved to conceal himself in the wide roots of a nearby tree. Still, the vague figure continued to move closer.

The shadow coalesced as it got closer, showing a wiggling, almost snakelike body shape. Suddenly it stopped… then abruptly launched an attack.

The thing swiftly moved around the roots at a pace Link would have thought impossible. He stabbed at it with his knife, hitting it somewhere in the side and drawing blood. In return, the thing sank its fangs deep into his left leg. Link gasped with pain, but attempted to grapple the thing's head. Unfortunately, it had extremely smooth, slippery skin and easily wiggled out of his grip. It turned and swam off into the gloom, but Link could still see it's shadow in the distance if he squinted.

"Why would it just attack like that and then just turn around and run before killing me or driving me off?" Link wondered. The answer wasn't hard to grasp, "It's just waiting for me to die. It injected its poison, and it's going to leave me alone until I die. Well, I'm not giving that thing the satisfaction, dammit!"

With some effort, leaning primarily on his uninjured right leg, Link clambered up the tree, out of the water. He was surprised at how much effort it took.

"Damn. The poison's already getting to me."

Link sat his pack down and browsed through it as quickly as possible. He grabbed a potion known to be an antidote to most known poisons and swallowed it down, along with one that simply healed damage to one's body. Suddenly his blood felt as if it were on fire. Link writhed and screamed on the branch, barely managing to avoid falling back into the water. He continued to flail around on the branches in agony for several minutes, until the pain gradually ebbed to a dull throb and, eventually, to nothing.

"Ugh." Link sat up slowly, sweating. "Damn, I can see why they don't use those when they can help it. They said it'd hurt a bit, but I wasn't expecting _that_!" He sat back against the tree, feeling suddenly drained despite having just slept a mere half hour ago. After a few minutes, he felt a bit better, but was reluctant to try the water again after that last encounter. Still, he was a soldier of Hyrule, and he had a mission to complete, so he gritted his teeth and made the plunge.

No slow and steady approach this time. Link forsook stealth in a mad dash for the temple in the distance. He could see several shadowy shapes converging on him, but ignored them to focus on swimming as fast as he could.

He clambered up onto the temple just in time to witness a very large pair of jaws snapping at the air where he had just been. Figuring distracting the predators by inducing them to feed on each other wasn't a bad idea; he took out his rifle and fired several times at the murky shapes circling below where he just had been. From the black-looking fluid that floated up to the surface, he saw that he had hit at least one of the beasties. That seemed to be enough to trigger their instincts, and a great deal of thrashing in the shallows around the temple ensued. When it was over, Link kicked a rock down into the water. Nothing. He poked with a stick. No reaction. Link carefully set his feet into the shallowest part of the water. Nothing. He slowly tiptoed through the water towards the temple entrance, staying in shallower parts as much as possible.

Looking into the temple from the entrance, Link observed that it was a) dark and b) very much flooded inside the temple. The water went up to his waste in many areas, and from the looks of things there were several floors farther down that would be completely underwater.

"Great. Just _great_," thought Link.

Link decided to search the upper levels first, in hopes that he might be able to find the Master Sword without having to take another dive to the layers of goddesses knew what monsters. He carefully crawled up the crumbling stone staircase, his flashlight held in front of him.

Several times an old stone crumbled as he put his weight on it, put link had spread himself wide across the floor rather than walk on too legs, giving him better balance and putting less weight on individual old stones. Once on the upper floor, Link continued to crawl rather than walk, slowing him but saving him from falling through the worn-out old floor several times.

Link crawled into numerous rooms filled with nothing but dust and occasionally some half worn away markings in a language he couldn't read. He dismissed them.

"Probably just some old stuff that says the same stuff as they say in churches now, 'may the goddesses bless and protect us from x, y, and z, blah blah blah'" thought Link (who wasn't the most pious of soldiers).

The only thing of particular interest he found was an old golden Triforce symbol on the ruins of what looked to have been an altar. It was covered with mud and assorted gunk from centuries of neglect, but it was still gold and Link decided to take it with him, just to prove he had been here, if nothing else. Regrettably, he found nothing that even vaguely resembled a sword.

Link groaned, "I guess that means I've gotta go down into a lightless, underwater tunnel to search for a probably nonexistent blade then. Yay."

Link carefully crawled back down the stairs until he reached the first floor again. He reached into his pack an pulled out a dimly glowing crystal. Designed by Zora magicians to assist in their exploration of lightless underwater areas, it was one of the more useful innovations they had provided Hyrule when Daphenes had incorporated their nation. A source of light that never ran out and could operate anywhere. Of course, it also glowed much less than a flashlight, making them superior when the option was available. Lin hadn't wanted to use it outside for fear of attracting monsters, but now supposed he had no choice.

"Let's get this over with," thought Link. He dived in.

If the rooms upstairs had decayed with time, the ones underwater had it fair worse. All markings of any kind had long been worn away by time and water, leaving the rooms nearly indistinguishable from one another, except where there was a very great size difference. Unfortunately for Link, there seemed to be hundreds of rooms on the lower floors, meaning that he spent hours digging through dust and weeds in each and every one, looking for something he did not even believe still existed. Still, he had a job to do, and damned if he wouldn't try, if only for Zelda's sake.

After hours of fruitless searching throughout the old temple, Link came across a partially collapsed wall that revealed a stairway with no doors on its sides. Obviously someone had wanted to hide something down here, but time had given their efforts a great big middle finger.

"Well, if someone wanted to hide it, it must be something worth looking at," reasoned Link, "It'll probably be no worse than any of the rest of this godsforsaken hellhole, and I'd have to check it out eventually anyway. Why not just do it now?"

The stairway went down and down for minutes on end. If Link was right, and he thought he was, this went much deeper into the ground than any other part of the temple. Obviously, someone had _really_ wanted to hide something. His curiosity evoked, Link continued down the way.

After another few minutes, Link saw a soft light at the end of the tunnel. Surprised but wary, he slowed his pace and carefully looked out the exit of the stairway. In the middle of the room was a pillar of light, surrounding a sword stuck into a stone cylinder. Link's eyes widened.

"So… it _is _real," he thought. He took a look around the room. The light surrounding the Master Sword revealed a very morbid sight: skeletons. Hundreds of them, in various states of decay. Link swallowed nervously and looked around, searching for the tiniest hint of what might have killed these people. No such thing presented itself so, reluctantly, Link carefully stepped onto the floor of the room.

The reaction was immediate. The door behind him slammed shut. There was an enormous ghostly shriek, and the skeletons were sucked up by an invisible current. They swirled around, mixing at seeming random, until a giant mass of skeletons had formed into the rough shape of a serpent. Two skulls near the top started glowing yellow, as if they were eyes.

"FOOL!" shrieked a thousand echoing voices, "YOU DARE DISTURB THE RESTING PLACE OF THE MASTER SWORD? YOU WILL NEVER AGAIN SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY!"

With that, the massive bone serpent lunged, reaching out swallow Link. Luckily, the water seemed to slow it down, and he pushed himself to the side, gliding much more easily and swiftly than the jumbled mass.

It slammed hard onto the wall, and there was the sound of countless bones crunching. "RESISTANCE IS POINTLESS, FOOLISH MORTAL!" it said as it turned itself around, "YOU CANNOT DEFEAT US! YOU CANNOT ESCAPE US! WE ARE THE GUARDIAN, AND WE WILL ADD YOUR BONES TO OURSELF!"

"Yeah, I don't think so."

The creature lunged again, and once again Link pushed himself out of the way as the guardian collided with the wall with another sickening crunch.

"My bones are my own, and I'm damn well keeping them! So come and get'em if you can, beastie!" Link taunted.

The creature's response was to make yet another lunge, repeating the pattern of events thus far and cracking more bones.

It started laughing, "HEH. HEH HEH. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! YOU THINK YOU CAN DEFEAT US WITH SUCH PATHETIC TRICKS? FOOLISH MORTAL, DO YOU NOT KNOW NOTHING YOU DO MAY HARM US?"

"Yeah yeah yeah. Blah blah blah. All I've heard outta you so far is talk. You can blab a good game, but can you back it up?" Link grinned.

The beast opened its "jaws" and unleashed a burst of green fire, which strangely did not go out underwater. Link dodged to the side just in time.

"GIVE UP AND JOIN US IN ETERNAL WATCH, PATHETIC FLESH SACK!"

"In your dreams."

More fire pour out of the thing's mouth. This time, Link dodged a bit too slowly and his left leg got scorched. He gritted his teeth and bore the pain as best he could.

"GIVE IT UP, BOY! YOU TIRE AND ARE INJURED WHILE WE ARE UNDAMAGED AND STRONG!"

"Yeah, like I'm going to do that."

More fire. Link hurled himself out of the way again, but ran too hard into a jutting rock.

"STOP YOUR FUTILE DISPLAY AND DIE!"

"You know, I wonder: why do you say stuff like that? Has anyone ever actually _done_ that?"

The creature lunged at Link, who rolled out of the way. Yet again, the guardian bashed itself into the wall with a loud crunching noise.

"So I take that as a no?"

Another fire blast. This one grazed Link's right shoulder, leaving nasty-looking burns.

"YOUR DEATH IS OBVIOUS AND INEVITABLE! WHY THEN DO YOU BOTHER TO DELAY IT WITH YOUR JUMPING?"

"Uh, because I want to _live_? Ever thought of that?"

"DIE!" The creature loosed yet more fire. This time, however, a small portion hit the Master Sword's pedestal and simply bounced off. That gave Link an idea. He placed himself slightly to the side of the pedestal.

"My grandma has better aim than you – and she smells better too!"

"JUST DIE ALREADY!"

The guardian loosed yet more flame at Link. This time, however, Link threw himself directly behind the pedestal. The green fire yet again reflected off of the pedestal – and this time right back into the guardian. The fire washed over the skeletal serpent, bathing it in glowing green flames. The superheated bones started to melt.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaahhhhhhh…"

Link stared somewhat incredulously as the beast was melted down to superheated glop by its own flame.

"Huh. Didn't think that'd work quite so well. This thing obviously wasn't all that smart," he said to no one in particular, "Welp, better grab that sword while I'm here. Then maybe I can go someplace that _isn't_ crawling with monsters."

Link swam up to the pedestal as best he could with his injuries. He grasped the sword with both hands, expecting the old thing to be pretty stuck in there after all this time. Surprisingly, it came out very easily and smoothly, with little effort. So easily, in fact, that Link went flying upward with the force of his own tug.

The sword suddenly began to glow. Link shielded his eyes as something bright came out of the sword.

As the brightness dimmed, Link heard an odd voice, "Identity confirmed. Greetings, my master."

...

AN: So, how was it? Please review. I want to know if you all think I'm doing well or not.


	7. New Information

Link lowered his arms and stared at the creature veering before him. He'd seen some weird shit before, but thing had to rank on up there. It was female in form, with an entirely blue head with eyes lacking pupils or irises. Half of its body was blue, and half was purple. Its legs had patterns resembling some type of stocking. The weirdest bits, however, were the facts that it had a large blue gem in the center of its chest and, in the place of arms, seemed to have an odd cloak-like thing, which it currently had spread out. At the moment, the being had a somewhat… _eager_(?) expression on its face.

It gave him a bow at the waste, "It has been far too long, master."

"Huh? What are you talking about? I've never seen you before in my life!"

The creature's expression looked briefly crestfallen before shifting to a more lank state. "Yes, of course you wouldn't remember… Forgive me, master," she gave him another small bow, "I allowed my emotions to get the better of my logic. Regardless, I am known as Fi."

"Of course I wouldn't remember what exactly?"

"Once, many millennia ago, your past life wielded me. Together we adventured and eventually stopped the demon king Demise, according to the plan of Her Grace, the goddess Hylia."

Link actually burst out laughing. Ok, so the Master Sword was real. But a past life? _Him_? That was just too ridiculous to even consider. Fi looked on, seemingly without emotion, although he once glimpsed something that may have been hurt on her face, but it quickly disappeared.

When he was done, Link said, "Look, I'm afraid you may have me mistaken for someone else you knew. And who the hell is 'Demise'? And 'Hylia' is the last name of the royal family, not of some goddess. I'm not exactly the most pious Hylian ever, but even I know there's no goddess called Hylia. Just Din, Nayru, and Farore, along with a host of lesser gods and nature spirits, none of whom are named Hylia."

Fi kept her face blank, "No, I am quite sure you are my old master. I could read your soul the instant you laid a hand on that blade. If you don't believe me, your favorite color is green, your favorite food is cucco slathered in hanadre sauce, and your greatest fear is to be locked in a square, gray, completely empty, inescapable room for all time. Shall I go on to more embarrassing things, or will you believe me when I say I know your soul?"

"No no! It's fine! I'll believe you!" said a rather nervous and slightly creeped out Link.

"I calculated a 97.5% chance of that sufficing to gain your acknowledgement. As to your other questions, Hylia was a lesser goddesses entrusted by the gods of old to guard the Triforce on their behalf. As part of a plan to ensure it did not fall into the hands of the demon king Demise, she reincarnated her soul into a mortal form and, as far as I am aware, has continued to do so ever since. In all likelihood, those who would become the royal family took the name to honor her. It is likely to have continued out of sheer tradition and inertia once she was forgotten about, likely out of the flaws of oral tradition."

"Okaaaaay. And what about this 'Demise' fellow?"

"Yes, our present business. Demise was an ancient king of demons. Coveting the Triforce, he made war on the surface would and Hylia in an attempt to obtain it for himself. He and Hylia ultimately fought, resulting in his imprisonment beneath the earth and Hylia's weakening. To ensure that he would be defeated when he inevitably returned, she forsook her immortal form as a goddess and took on mortal flesh. Several hundred years later, her latest incarnation, a certain Zelda, along with your past self, master, confronted him when he threatened to rise again. To make a long story short, they won, and Demise was sealed into the sword you now hold, though not before cursing yourself and Hylia's reincarnation to forever be pursued by a manifestation of his hate. I then went into a slumber in the sword, with the intention that Demise should be slowly worn away until he was down to nothing. This was Hylia's plan. It was working well until a few years ago, when I was awakened by a sudden resurgence in Demise's spirit. I have contained him as best I am able, but at the rate he grows he will escape the seal in perhaps a year. At best, two years."

And what happens then?"

"Either you and Her Grace defeat him once more, or he claims the Triforce and ushers in an everlasting reign of darkness.'

Link swallowed. Didn't Hyrule have _enough_ problems already? Seems someone didn't think so. He paused to think for a minute. "Wait. You said that the old incarnation of Hylia was named 'Zelda'. I know a Zelda. Could it be her?"

"Very possible, master. However, without being in close proximity to your Zelda I could not identify her one way or the other."

"Ok, we'll shelf that for later. I've already got a mission from Zelda, but now you tell me that a demon king is about to get loose and take over the world or whatever. So, here's a question: what do you recommend I do about it?"

"I recommend, master, that you seek out the Triforce and wish for the utter eradication of Demise."

"Well now, that somewhat conflicts with my other directive, which is to bring the Triforce back to Zelda."

"Master, I advise you to ignore that. Whatever it is your Zelda seeks, it pales in comparison to the threat of Demise, both to herself and to all life."

"Uh huh. And why exactly should I believe anything you say?"

"Perhaps some of my memories will convince you." She gestured with her right "arm" and the Master Sword glowed. Link found himself watching what looked a great deal like him in an earlier age (and with a really stupid hat, he thought) doing battle with some giant, bizarre looking being with flaming hair and a wicked-looking sword that heavily resembled a corrupted version of the one he now held. He watched as the guy in green did battle with, and eventually struck down and sealed this being, whatever it was. He watched as it, with its last breath cursed those who bore "the blood of the goddess" and "the spirit of the hero" to be ever pursued by an incarnation of his hatred. He watched as Fi said her goodbyes to the victor, rather unsurprisingly referring to him as "Link". He came back to himself, floating in the underwater ruins.

"Do you believe me now, master?"

"I'll… I'll consider what you said."

"Please do not consider too long, master. The demon king grows stronger by the minute, and I can only do so much to hold him back."

Couldn't I wish him gone on the Triforce and then just give it to Zelda?"

Fi shook her head. "No, master. The Triforce will only grant one wish to one person who can touch it first. It will then break up for a certain amount of time before someone may again try to obtain it. I must warn you, however, that if a heart does not contain a balance of power, wisdom, and courage, the Triforce will split and go to the ones most embodying those traits, except for the one that you most embody, going to you. Then one must bring those people together in order to reunite the Triforce. It is then that anyone that touches the Triforce can make a wish, whatever his heart."

"Just how do you know all this anyway?"

"Her Grace created me to be a spirit of great knowledge in order to help her chosen hero fulfill her plan."

"So this is all according to her plan, then?"

Fi shook her head. "No, master. Or at least if it is, she never told me. No, I am now, as your kind says, 'winging it'."

"Well then, care to tell me where the Triforce is?"

Fi looked somewhat… ashamed? "I… I can't."

…

Zelda had decided to arrange for a military parade on her fifth day in office, for several reasons. First, she wanted to celebrate and thank the Republican Guard for the now-complete quashing of the riots in Hyrule City. Second, she wanted to make an impression on her citizens. A military parade would awe and strengthen those who were loyal, and intimidate those who were not. Third, there was a reason she did not admit fully even to herself: she wanted to take her mind off of the killing she had ordered. Her rational mind remained convinced that she had done the best thing in that situation for her people and country, but her conscience still ate at her. She had forced herself to look at the pictures of the dead innocents: men, women, and children, killed by her orders, if not directly at her hand. Their hollow, empty eyes seemed to her to be staring at her in an accusatory fashion. She had prayed to every god and goddess she knew, along with the spirits of the dead themselves, to forgive her for what she had done to them. Still, their faces and ghosts had haunted her dreams the previous night, and she wanted something somewhat less morbid to think about. A military parade would do nicely.

She stepped out of her office, beginning a brisk walk towards the parade grounds in front of her father's old palace. Impa fell into lockstep with her, as did a pair of her subordinate bodyguards. She was met by Hadira on the way out, who also opted to walk with her.

"Zelda," Hadira said, ignoring Impa's frown, "I'm concerned for your safety during today's events. My subordinates have thwarted at least one plot to assassinate you during today's proceedings. Perhaps you should consider cancelling the parade, or at least not attending in person. We could have a body double conjured up for you."

Zelda sighed, "No. My people need this. _I_ need this. I need to remind them and myself that Hyrule stands strong and will not fall, whatever happens. Besides, I… I…" her voice trailed off, as she recalled those she had ordered killed.

Hadira nodded in apparent sympathy, or at least understanding. "As you wish, Zelda. Just be forewarned that someone may try and kill you today. Please be careful."

"I will."

"I'm glad. I seek only the best for Hyrule… and for you. Losing you now could bring down everything."

"Thank you for your concern."

"Of course. Now then, I must be off. Would-be insurgents and rioters to suppress, I'm sure you understand."

"I do."

"Excellent." With that, Hadira turned and walked down a different hall.

…

Zelda stood on the balcony of the palace, surrounded by several of the Guard's higher officers, in full dress uniform. She herself continued to wear her custom purple uniform, her gold insignia gleaming brightly in the afternoon sun. She alternatively waved and saluted as tanks and formations of the guard rolled and marched in step by.

The crowd cheered the soldiers, some even throwing flowers at them. It was surprisingly big for an event announced on such short notice. What surprised Zelda most, however, was the percentage of it composed of non-Hylians. She saw numerous Gorons, Zora, Kokiri, Deku, Gerudo, and Moblins amongst the crowd, many cheering themselves hoarse. She saw people of all species waving the Hylian flag, holding portraits and posters of herself and her father, mouthing pro-government slogans, shouting her name, or simply cheering.

The funny thing was, the mobs that had wracked the city for four days might actually have been _good_ for race relations as a whole. After all, if you saw the alternative to the government as being a wild, leaderless mob of thugs that burned buildings at random, looted indiscriminately, and murdered countless people (intentionally or not), your affection for those that came in and restored peace and relative safety to your neighborhood would rise, whether they were majority Hylian or no.

Zelda actually shed a few tears of joy. This, people of all races coming together in harmony under one banner, _this_, everyone happy together, was what she and her father were working for. She renewed her vow not to stop until the entire world lived together in peace and happiness, even if she had to stain her soul to do it. She didn't matter. Her people did.

"Whatever it takes." Zelda thought.

...

AN: Am I doing well? Horribly? Your thoughts please.


	8. What to do?

"You can't? What the hell do you mean you can't? The only reason I came down here in the first place is because the old lore said that the Master Sword could show me the way to the Triforce! If you can't do that, then how the hell am I supposed to find the damned thing?"

"I apologize, master, but the information I received from Her Grace was made obsolete when your past incarnation touched the Triforce and wished for the destruction of Demise."

"Uh, if my past self _already_ wished for the destruction of Demise, shouldn't he be you know, _dead_?"

"He was. However, a loyal servant of his managed to travel back in time and free him in the past, before his destruction. Then he was imprisoned in the sword."

"Wouldn't that have resulted in some kind of time paradox? I mean, if he was already sealed in the past, then old me and Hylia would never have had to attempt to stop him in the future."

"Apparently not."

"Why?"

"Bluntly speaking, I have no idea. Divine intervention, most likely."

"That seems like a fairly cheap way out."

"You can take it up with the goddesses if you like, master."

Link sighed. "Alright, but if you can't tell me how to get at the Triforce, may I ask what it is you expect me to do about Demise?"

"I never said I couldn't tell you how to get at it. Just not where it is."

"Huh?"

"Fortunately for ourselves, the goddesses saw fit to ensure that whenever the Triforce made a reappearance, there was always a way for those who were worthy to get at it."

"And that way would be…?"

"I don't know."

"Ok, so that helps us how again?"

"The places of significance on the route to the Triforce are always connected and always overflowing with spiritual energy. I can sense this. In other words, we merely have to find one of these sites and we will be well on our way to finding the Triforce."

"Ok, do you have any idea where such sites might _be_?"

"In places once or currently of great spiritual significance to the land's races, most likely. It is also likely that they will be highly isolated and possibly abandoned entirely."

"Any idea of where such places might be?"

"I'm sorry, but no. I have been slumbering for several millennia. The world tends to change in that time, and this time I do not have a plan of Her Grace to follow. We are on our own."

"Any general ideas of where to start looking?"

"Seek out isolated areas where powerful spirits are said to reside. Perhaps your Zelda might be able to supply data on such areas? I could also determine if she was the latest incarnation of Her Grace or not."

Link was now seriously regretting daydreaming during all the religious lectures he had been given at school. He supposed that going to Zelda for information was the only thing to do now.

"Alright, we'll go see Zelda."

…

Zelda herself was, at the moment, basking in the adoration of her people. After the parade itself had ended, Zelda had made a spontaneous decision to go down into the crowd personally, both as a public relations display and because she honestly was quite happy with the idea of seeing her people's smiling faces up close and personal. An indulgence, perhaps, but one she felt she could afford.

Soon after walking into the crowd, she had been hoisted onto the shoulder of a particularly tall male Goron. From there, she had spent hours shaking hands, kissing babies, signing autographs, and simply waving. She had realized that the crowd viewed her, in essence, as some sort of messianic figure. Most likely it was simply the result of the fact that she wasn't burning down people's homes, stealing their property, or just plain murdering them for little to no reason. No matter how much you may have resented the government before, after the chaos you simply wanted an ordinary, safe life where you could walk down the street without getting robbed, raped, or murdered for one reason or another (or because someone had been drinking too much). As she had brought the chaos back into line, she was viewed as a benevolent savior, irrespective of the rather ruthless tactics she had used to do so.

Nonetheless, Zelda had to acknowledge that she was getting tired. She had summoned her magic to keep her going a while longer, but she felt herself beginning to fade into sleep regardless. She needed to go, now. It would hardly present the necessary image of a firm but benevolent leader if she fell asleep in the middle of thousands of people.

She converged her wish to be put down to the Goron, who nodded and began to make his way back towards where several guard troopers were waiting for her, with Impa and her two bodyguards trying to push their way through behind him. Eventually, the guard troopers and the Goron were able to meet up in the middle of the crowd, and she was set down in the center of a small ring of troopers. They looked nervous at the size of the crowd, but nonetheless began push their way back towards the palace. Impa and the two guards were nowhere to be seen.

Eventually, Zelda and co. managed to get free of the crowd. She turned and gave one last wave before disappearing into the palace. Almost as soon as the door shut, she slumped over, leaning on a trooper for support.

Zelda wiped sweat off her forehead. "Gods above, that is a lot more tiring than it looks!"

"I'm sure it is, Ms. President." Zelda thought she detected a faint hint of sarcasm in the man's tone, but decided just to let it go for now.

Zelda looked around. "Hey, where's Impa?"

The soldiers looked at each other for a bit. One by one, the all shook their heads. One wearing a captain's insignia said, "We have no idea."

"Well, don't just stand there! Go and find them!"

"Yes sir!" the man saluted before he and his squad moved back out the door they had just come through, leaving Zelda alone.

Zelda slumped, exhausted, onto one of the plush chairs near the entrance of the palace. She had a lot of work to do yet today, and for that she needed her faithful aide. She wondered how Link was progressing – she was used to getting status reports by telephones from subordinate officers whenever she needed them, so not being able to contact him at all made her feel a bit nervous.

"Perhaps I was wrong?" she thought, "Perhaps I shouldn't have sent him on that mission? Perhaps I should've sent him with backup? Maybe the whole thing was exaggerated and Ganondorf really has no chance whatsoever of claiming the Triforce – if it even exists."

Think about Ganondorf led her to a rather disturbing train of thought – what _was_ he up to? He normally maintained a radio broadcast from an unknown position where he daily spread propaganda and called for the various peoples of Hyrule to rise up and overthrow the government. Yet her intelligence reported that it had been silent since the day Daphenes was attacked. Why? He was always blabbering on and on about the evils of Daphenes and his government and the necessity of revolution, but now that Daphenes had nearly been killed and the most realistic attempt at uprising in decades was underway, he said nothing. Why? Furthermore, why wasn't his group attacking? No better opportunity had come in decades, and likely would not come again. The military was overstretched, much of the population was up in arms, and an unprepared leader had suddenly had to assume power. This would be the perfect time for an attack – and yet he did nothing. The rebels that she had shelled out of existence had been confirmed as belonging to an unrelated group. She doubted she had scared him, as he had never been terribly careful about the lives of his subordinates. And yet he had attacked no convoys, raided no bases, and seized no towns. Why? What did he hope to gain? She swallowed. Whatever it was, it had to be very important – and thus very bad for her. What could it be? Was he even now on the verge of claiming the Triforce? Zelda shuddered. A disturbing thought if there ever was one.

While Zelda was immersed in her thoughts, she failed to hear the light footsteps of someone tiptoeing slowly down the hall. What she did hear was the crack of a gun, as she felt a bullet enter her back.

...

AN: Sorry this chapter was a bit shorter than usual. I was somewhat busy. Anyway, as always, I ask for reviews.


	9. Attack and Return

Pain overwhelmed Zelda as the bullet tore into her left shoulder. She could feel her collarbone shatter as the bullet impacted on it. Screaming in agony and gushing blood, Zelda toppled forward off the chair.

Zelda writhed on the polished marble floor, blood oozing everywhere. Her writhing flipped her right side up at one point, and she was able to get a look at the assassin. A Hylian male, he wasn't much to look at: a rather unremarkable, forgettable face, black hair, somewhat tanned skin. What was disturbing was the way he was looking back at her. He had his head slightly cocked, as if curious. His eyes showed a rather eerie clinical detachment and dispassion. His pistol was pointed down at the floor.

The man studied her for several seconds as she writhed and shrieked incoherently. What was he looking for? Had he come to kill her or not? Eventually it seemed he decided that he had, as he took aim at her again.

"No!" thought Zelda, "It can't end now! Not like this!"

Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Zelda called on everything she knew; called on every last bit of magical power she had. The man was about to pull the trigger. In desperation, Zelda opted to not power to try and control her power but simply to unleash it wildly in the man's direction.

The room was suddenly filled with wild, uncontrolled magical power. Lightning bolts stormed wildly, destroying everything in sight. Fire flared up into random shapes before dissipating itself once more. Hurricane force winds pushed objects every which way. Wild and strange-looking shapes took form everywhere, some cackling with glee, others moaning in despair. Voices shrieked from nowhere in dead tongues.

In the midst of the storm she had unleashed, Zelda was picked up by the winds and hurled several feet into a marble column. She felt something crack.

The would-be assassin was being tossed to and fro by the force of various winds going different directions. Eerily, he made no sound whatsoever despite being repeatedly thrown into various hard objects. Finally, he was struck by several of the lightning bolts at once, and he fell to the ground, smoking. Still, not even the smallest grunt of pain escaped his lips.

In the midst of the raging storm, Zelda passed out.

…

"Ugh," thought Link, as he swam back up through the temple, "Another jaunt back through the godsdammed swamp. Then, I get to run around to random 'sacred places' in the middle of nowhere to pursue hunches. And if I don't find this stuff quickly enough, some demon king's gonna come out of the sword and kill us all. And I'll have to explain to Zelda why it is I can't give her the Triforce. Yay. On the other hand…" thought Link, "Who says she needs to know? It's not like she could tell that I was going after it for entirely different reasons anyway."

Link suddenly felt ashamed of himself. "Idiot. This is the short of shit that the leader of Hyrule _needs_ to know about. If this Demise fellow gets loose, she ought to at least have time to prepare. Besides, she's my friend. Would she ever do that to me?" He doubted it.

Link swam on.

…

"Uuuuuuuugggggggghhhhhhhhh," moaned Zelda. She had just resumed consciousness, and felt herself to be lying in a soft bed, with much of her body feeling numb, and more covered in something heavy. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

It was obvious she was at a hospital. Her bed was smaller than what she slept on, and ore standardized. Her left arm and right lower leg were covered in plaster. She had a brace around her collarbone. There was a smell of disinfectant in the air. She observed several beds identical to hers (save for being completely empty) throughout the room.

"Zelda, you're awake?" came a familiar voice from her side. A glance showed it to be Impa.

Zelda tried to nod but found she couldn't in the brace, so she managed, "Y…y… yeah" The effort it took was surprising.

Impa sighed in relief. "Thank all the gods. I was… We were all so worried that you'd end up like…" she hesitated, "like your father."

Zelda, glancing around, observed some 10 uniformed members of her bodyguard corps throughout the room, with Impa being the only one directly at her side.

Impa bowed her head low. "I… I'm sorry, Zelda. I wasn't there. Wasn't there to protect you when this was happening." Tears began dripping down her cheeks, "This is all my fault. If I hadn't been so incompetent… hadn't gotten lost in the crowd… you would be there. I… I deserve to die." Astonishingly, she managed to bow even lower, "Zelda, if you want… if you want my head for this, I understand. Say the word and I'll stab myself through the heart." She pulled out her knife and held it over her heart, looking up at Zelda.

"N… no!" Zelda rasped out. "Not… not your… fault." She gasped. It hurt to speak.

Impa re-sheathed the knife. "If that is your wish, my president. I swear, I will never again allow anything like this to happen to you, even if it costs me my life."

"I'm… glad." Zelda managed, before her exhausted body overwhelmed her and she fell into sleep.

…

Link stepped out of the swamp, onto the outskirts of the Zora town he had stayed in before. It was nighttime and crickets and other, less harmless animals were out and about, making a racket. Link was just glad to be back in civilization. His trip back ahd benefitted considerably from the affect that the Master Sword had on the local wildlife: they seemed scared of it and fled rather than attempt to attack him. As he no longer had to hide from every passing shadow, he had been able to make much better time than before.

"Well, I suppose the old thing is good for more than info after all," Link thought.

The Zora town was asleep, and Link was feeling like dozing off as well. This time, however, he simply climbed into the jeep he had left parked at the police station. Settling into a seat, Link rested his exhausted limbs and allowed sleep to take him.

…

Zelda awoke an indeterminate amount of time later to find an extra person in the room, Hadira. The woman was staring at the floor as she sat on another bed. Two of Zelda's bodyguards were keeping an eye on the woman, but the rest remained in their positions. Impa was still by Zelda's side, but she now looked much more exhausted than she had earlier. Her eyes were bloodshot and had black bags beneath them. Still, she did her best to remain vigilant.

"Im…Impa." Zelda rasped, "Go res…re…rest."

Impa seemed somewhat startled, but composed herself quickly, "My president, you need me to-"

"You need…to… sleep… Im…Impa. That's… an ord… order."

She looked discontent but bowed her head anyway. "As you wish." Impa turned and left the room, but not before admonishing Zelda's other protectors not to let their vigilance drop for a second or she'd have their necks.

Zelda saw Hadira staring quietly at her, observing the conversation. "Ye… yes, Hadira? Wha… what have y… you got?"

Hadira stood up and walked to Zelda's bed in her usual brisk strides. "Madam President, I believe I have discovered the identity of your attacker."

…

AN: Sorry this is a bit short, but these last few days have been hectic. Anyway, I will continue regular updates in the future, but they will probably not be daily. I would expect one every two days or so. And as always, I would like your feedback!


	10. Rebel Actions

Link awoke to the sound of an explosion.

Reacting as his instincts and training demanded, he grabbed his gun and the Master Sword before crunching up near the floor of the jeep, to minimize his profile. He waited for several seconds as his rational mind woke up fully.

In the distance, Link heard screaming. From his point of view below the jeep's steering wheel, he could see an orange glow in the distance. Link sat and waited for about half a minute to see if there would be any further explosions or any attempts on his life. When nothing came, Link slowly, cautiously, peeked above the dashboard. Half of the police station was now a smoking crater, with the other half now on fire. Link observed several nervous Zora peeking out from doors and windows, but no one evident on the streets.

Slowly and quietly, Link opened the jeep's door, gently stepping down onto the ground, his rifle in hand and the master sword on his back. Perhaps not the best place to keep it, but it **was** his only way to find the Triforce (assuming it did exist, which he still wasn't sure about) and he had no desire to report to Zelda that it had been snatched in the middle of the night by some opportunistic thief in the back end of nowhere.

Link scanned the area for any hint of hostiles. Nothing. As far as he could tell, the only people up and about were the sleepy, confused, and somewhat panicked Zora. Of course, one of them could easily have been responsible, but Link was hardly well-versed enough in local knowledge to know who might harbor rebel sympathies. None of them appeared to be armed, so Link made up his mind and moved toward the policy station, rifle in hand, scanning the area for any sign of armed hostiles. No one shot at him or made any sort of hostile moves. Dozens of Zora where now outside and slowly creeping towards the police station ahead of Link. They acted exacted as he'd expect civilians to act when struck by a combination of horror and morbid curiosity. They wanted to know what was up, regardless of how rational or relevant it actually was. The same impulse motivated journalists to join soldiers in the middle of the fighting in the name of getting a good story.

No one appeared interested in shooting at either the Zora or himself, so Link sped up a bit. By the time he actually got near the burning remains of the station, there were already nearly 100 Zora gathered around, whispering to each other in nervous and speculative tones.

"Out of the way, Republican Guard coming through!"

That got their attention. People, as Link had learned, shared numerous impulses regardless of species. One of those was to, in a scared, leaderless situation, listen to anyone who seemed to have even the slightest bit of authority about him. Having actual rank in an elite military unit certainly didn't hurt.

The crowd parted, hushing as they watched Link walk up to the remains of the building. Several eyed the sword on his back curiously, but refrained from speaking. Link walked up as close as he dared to the burning rubble, to try and get some idea of who might have done this and how. No such luck, regrettably. The rubble was so thoroughly damaged and burnt out that actually determining where the bomb had been placed, which might have given him a clue as to who would have had appropriate access, was impossible for a non-expert like himself.

Turning to face the crowd again, Link yelled over the crackling flames, "I need you to return to your homes. As of now, the military is formally taking charge of this investigation."

At that, he felt rather than saw a brief, intense glow from the sword on his back. Fi appeared several feet above his head, looking down on him. "Master, surely you do not intend to waste precious time on such a frivolous investigation when there are far more important matters to be worried about?"

Most of the Zora had shocked expressions on their faces. Several were whispering urgently to each other and pointing at Fi, and not a few were backing off nervously.

Link held up his hands for quiet. "Please listen to me. I need you to return to your homes. I need you to remain calm for the next few days, until I can get assistance. Until then, you'll have to wait."

"Wait?" someone shrieked in a panicked-sounding voice, "Wait? Someone just blew up our police station! Without that, we've got no protection! And you want us to just sit around and wait for the military to arrive gods-know-when while whoever did this might still be lurking? They could come back and kill us all!"

"Please," Link repeated, in a louder, sterner tone of voice, "You must remain calm. Panicking and fleeing in all directions will do you no good of someone is still around who means you harm, which is by no means certain. It is easily conceivable that this could have been a timed explosion, with the perpetrators long gone. Regardless, it cannot be determined without more people and equipment – which I have to leave to go get. I couldn't protect you on my own if I stayed in any case. One man to protect hundreds? Ridiculous."

"And what if they're not gone? What if they're right here, just waiting to kill us whenever they goddamn feel like it? Huh? What then, Mr. heroic soldier?" said a different voice.

"If that _is_ the case, then that simply confirms the urgency of my immediately leaving to go get more soldiers. I can hardly defend this town on my lonesome."

"But why do _you_ have to go? Why can't one of us?" said a somewhat more feminine voice.

Link sighed. "Do you _really_ think that with the situation as it is right now – riots in the major cities and large rebel offensives all over the country, that the military would even consider sending anything for months unless someone like, say, an officer in the Guard told them to?"

Several Zora whispered to each other nervously. Yet another voice said, "Then what do we do to protect ourselves? We can't just sit here and die like lemmings!"

"A good point. Who here has ever served in the military?"

After a few seconds, three male Zora pushed their way through the crowd to stand before Link.

"Your names and ranks."

"Taldar. Private."

"Hochavich. Captain."

"Yenatha. Private."

"Well, at least I don't have to assign you ranks, then. Hochavich, you're in charge. You and the other will come with me. The rest of you: go back to your homes and remain calm. These three will be your protectors until help can get here."

The Zora, both in the crowd and the newly reenlisted soldiers themselves, looked nervous at the prospect. Glancing at one another, a handful of Zora slowly shuffled off. The rest, seeing the hard look on Links face as well as their compatriots leaving, slowly and reluctantly headed off back towards their homes, whispering as they went. After about a minute, Link and the three soldiers were alone.

Link walked towards the jeep, gesturing for the Zora to follow. With obviously reluctance, they did.

When they got to the jeep, Link halted the three and began rifling through the back. He pulled out several of the weapons he had taken from the armory, including three grenades, a rifle, a shotgun, and two pistols.

Link passed out the weapons, giving each soldier a grenade, Hochavich and Yenatha pistols, Taldar the shotgun, and Hochavich the rifle.

"Here," Link said, "It's not much, but it's what I've got. I trust you're all familiar with how to use these weapons?" They nodded. "Good. I have to leave immediately. Good luck."

In all honesty, Link felt somewhat guilty about just leaving them there like this, but he felt he had no choice. He couldn't defend the town from a significant number of rebels on his lonesome, and the sooner he got to a military base the sooner they would send reinforcements to aid the town. Besides, he had a mission to complete, so he suppressed his guilt and started the engine.

The three Zora eyed Link warily as he drove off into the night, before slowly turning around and walking back the way they had come.

…

As soon as he felt they were a reasonable distance from town, Link pulled off the Master Sword. Angrily, he said, "Fi! Get out here! _Now_!"

The sword glowed and she appeared once more. "Yes, master?"

"What the hell was that back there? Why did you randomly decide to try to come out and tell me something I already knew in the middle of an already spooked crowd?"

"Master, I am aware that you have great compassion for the helpless. I feared that you might allow your emotions to overcome your logic and forget that you have a greater duty to the world. Had you allowed yourself to waste precious weeks investigating such an act, it might have meant the difference between life and death to the world. It was a risk I simply deemed unacceptable."

"Next time, can you just let _me_ handle it? I wasn't going to stay there in any case."

"If I have cause to fear that your actions will endanger the world, master, I will not hesitate to say so."

"But could you at least let me try to do what I was doing before you intervene?"

"No. Time is of the essence. For the sake of all those who are and those who are yet to be, I cannot allow you to deviate from your mission. I _will_ intervene as is required."

"Then what's the point of calling me 'master' if you won't do what I tell you?"

"Master, I am your servant, but I am also the servant of Her Grace. My knowledge is at your disposal, but I must work to ensure that the will of Her Grace is carried out. Right now, that means stopping Demise's return. All else must be secondary."

Link nodded. "Fair enough, I suppose."

"Anything else, master?"

"No, that's all for now."

"As you wish." Fi disappeared into the blade.

…

Link drove throughout the rest of the night and well into the next morning. As he rounded a large hill, he saw a plume of smoke in the distance, near a military base he had been heading towards. A horrible suspicion immediately filled his mind, but he decided to check before assuming the worst.

…

"I should've assumed the worst," Link thought wearily.

When he had arrived at the sight, he had found the charred remains of the small military base littered with corpses. Many were in military uniform, but others were simply wearing civilian clothes. The various weapons on and around their bodies made it rather self-evident what they were.

Out of the corner of his eye, Link noticed a spot of white amid the charred and burning buildings. Turning his head, he noticed that it was a piece of paper roughly nailed to the somewhat scorched post where the Hylian flag presumably used to fly.

Walking up to the note, he read:

_ Dear Goons of the Hylia Regime_,

_This is but the first taste of what is coming for you. We the people are tired of being tyrannized by the illegal oppressor Daphenes, and now his bitch of the daughter, Zelda. The people are rising everywhere, and though you thugs may try, you will never destroy the people's revolution. We will fight you mercilessly, striking everywhere. You pathetic regime lapdogs and your bitch of mistress, along with all who support you, will pay dearly for your crimes. You will be dragged out into the streets and shot or hanged from your own gallows. We will never stop. We will never negotiate. We will never surrender. You will be overthrown. Liberty! Justice! Down with the tyrant!_

_ -The World Revolutionary Front_

Link looked at the carnage around him mournfully. It didn't make sense to him, why so many people would spend their lives and kill others to overthrow a government that only sought to bring the world together in harmony.

He walked over to a rebel corpse. It was a Moblin, clearly rather young. He wouldn't have guessed more than 14 or 15.

"So young," Link thought sadly, "So much wasted potential. Now just one casualty in thousands. You threw your life away. And for what? What did you gain from this? All you've done is kill others."

Turning away, dejected, Link walked back to his jeep. Starting it up, he drove further along the road back to Hyrule City, intending to stop at the next military outpost to summon help for the village and inform them of the other outpost's destruction.

Around an hour later, Link caught sight of a tank lying by the roadside. Three Zora in uniform appeared to be examining it. When they heard the sound of his engine, they turned and waved frantically at him. Link slowed down and pulled over beside them. He hopped out of the jeep

One of the Zora walked up to him. Link observed that her uniform, along with those on the other Zora, seemed to be ill-fitting.

"Strange…" Link thought briefly, before the Zora snapped a quick salute.

"Lieutenant Harastria of the 201st armored brigade, sir!" she snapped briskly.

"Lieutenant Link of the Republican Guard."

"Guard eh? What's an elite like you doing out here in the ass-end of nowehere, if you don't mind my asking?"

"That's need to know only, I'm afraid."

She shrugged. "Fair enough. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you a favor, Lt. Link. That is, if a big important guardsman like yourself has time for lowly grunts like ourselves."

"What do you need?"

"Come here and I'll show you."

She lead him to the opposite side of the tank. The other two Zora soldiers seemed to flank him. Link began to get nervous at that. He kept a hand near his pistol.

Harastria gestured at the tank. "Ok, sir, what we need is-"

*WHAM*

Link felt a tremendous kick to the back of his knee and fell to the ground. Rapidly, the two Zora "soldiers" grabbed his arms, pinning them tight.

Harastria smirked triumphantly. "What we need, _sir_, is for you to die. But first," she kicked him hard in the guts, "We need you to suffer." She punched him in the face. "And don't think you're going to get away." She plucked his pistol from its holster. "You know, I think after we're done playing with you, you little pig, we'll kill you with your own gun. What do ya say, boys?"

The two Zora behind Link cheered. Link paled.

"So, what's the bitch-queen got you doing way out here, eh?" She looked at the sword on his back. "Stealing more from her people? Doesn't surprise me. The little bitch wants her luxuries, even during the revolt. I suppose a spoiled little brat like her would be used to getting whatever she wanted. So, what poor unlucky sap did you steal this from?"

Harastria grabbed hold of the Master Sword and pulled it off of its strap. She turned it over, examianing the intricately carved detail on the pommel and hilt. "Real nice work here. Must be real old. Probably valuable. I think it'll fetch a pretty penny for our revolution. So now then, what - argh!"

She dropped the sword and shielded her eyes as it glowed brighter than Link had ever seen it. The two Zora holding Link down likewise reflexively let go and shielded their eyes. Curiously, Link could still see fine.

Acting on some entirely unknown instinct, Link seized the sword as its glow began to fade. Spinning around, he moved almost faster than the eye could see, striking off the right arm of one of the Zora. He screamed and went down. Link thrust the Master Sword through his companion's heart before he had time to react, then rapidly withdrew the blade.

Link turned to face Harastria. She had an astounded, panicked look on her face. She was backing off, and she aimed Link's pistol directly at him and fired. Link reacted faster tha he would have thought possible, bringing up the Master Sword directly into the bullet's path. It pinged harmlessly off the blade.

Before the dumbfounded Harastria could fire again, Link rushed forward and removed her head with one swift stroke. Her body crumpled to the ground.

Breathing hard, Link looked around at the three Zora, then the Master Sword.

"How the hell did I do that?"

…

AN: Seriously, I'd really like some feedback, please. Is it really so hard to spend half a minute typing out some comments or criticisms? I really want to know what you guys think you the story but you make it so hard to tell. So please spend 30 second anonymously reviewing this thing if you want, but just give me some feedback.


	11. Knowledge

Link stared at his sword, dumbfounded. "How in the hell did I do that?" he repeated, "I've never so much as _held_ a sword before, much less used one to block bullets!" His mind raced as he went over events again. It didn't take him long to realize what he needed to do. "Fi! I-"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

Link turned at the rather heart-rending moan of agony. The Zora whose arm he had cut off was writhing on the ground, desperately clutching at the stump of his right arm and trying to staunch the blood flow. Link suddenly felt a burst of pity for the poor soul. At least the others had died quickly. He needed to do something, _now_.

Link rushed back to his jeep and rummaged around through what supplies he had. He removed a roll of military-issue wrapping for grievous wounds, as well as a bottle of ordinary disinfectant. He might have tried a potion to purge and repel infection instead instead, but they caused tremendous strain on a body and could very well kill a man already so badly injured, which was why they were not yet standard-issue at military hospitals.

Link knelt by the sobbing Zora's side. "Hey, this is gonna hurt a bit. It's for your own good, though."

Link poured a bit of the liquid onto a piece of wrapping and then wrapped that piece around the Zora's stump. He screamed and writhed and flailed, trying to yank it off or roll away from Link, but Link held him firmly. In the end, the Zora became too exhausted to resist further after about a minute of flailing around, allowing Link to further wrap up the wound. The Zora was staring at him nervously the entire time.

After getting the desired dressing into place, Link stood up and brushed himself off a bit. His clothes were now covered in dirt, blood, and assorted unnamed grime.

He looked at the Zora. "Well, this little lesson's cost you, but you'll live." Link paused ominously for a second, "_If_ you tell me whatever I want to know." He brushed his hand on the Master Sword's hilt threateningly.

The Zora went wide-eyed with panic, and desperately scrambled to push himself backwards with his feet. Link simply took a few steps forward and rested his hand on the sword's hilt.

"Ohgodohgod! I'll talk! I'll talk! Just don't kill me! Please!" The Zora was now staring at Link like he was a wrathful god.

Link nodded and, with a small smile, took his hand off the hilt. "Good. Now, what's your name?"

"Zakim."

"What were you and your little friends doing out here?"

"We were here on behalf of the Zora Liberation Army. We were supposed to scout out that army outpost back there. When we got there, someone had already beaten us to the punch. Our transport broke down and we had to walk. We encountered a tank patrolling back a ways. We convinced the commander to come out and speak with us. We held a gun to his head and demanded that the others leave the tank. When they did, we shot them and stole their uniforms. The tank broke down around here. We had no idea of what was wrong or how to fix it. You came along about 15 minutes later."

"I see. You do realize murdering military personnel is a capital offence, don't you?"

The Zora threw himself at Link's feet and started sobbing. "Oh god, please! Spare me! It wasn't my idea! It was Harastria's! Please! I didn't want to go through with it, but she forced me! Please! I-"

"Save your breath and your lies. You're trying to convince me that it was all the dead lady's fault and you, poor innocent little you, had nothing to do with it. I've got a newsflash for you: you made yourself an enemy of the state and of me the day you joined this 'Zora Liberation Army'. I'm not in the mood to hear you blubber excuses for hours, so let's just keep going with the questions."

Zakim inched backwards a bit and stopped crying before nodding.

"That's better. Now tell me, what is the ZLA, who runs it, how many members does it have, what weapons does it have, and what do you know of its plans and goals?"

"The ZLA is a group of Zora sick of the Hylian occupation and control of our homeland. Our goals are twofold: expel the Hylian army and their flunkies and institute a government of Zora, by Zora, and for Zora. I don't know who runs it. Harastria recruited me, and she's the one who received communiques from above. I never saw from whom. I don't know how many members it has. The whole thing, as best I can tell, has a cell-structure, with only senior leadership really knowing how many people are really in on it. As to weapons, we've been able to get all manner of rifles, explosives, and bazookas, but nothing heavier. The plan, as far as I know, is to wage guerilla warfare until we're either strong enough to throw you out in a straight fight, or you decide your occupation is too costly and leave on your own. The more immediate plan _was_ to attack that military base, but it seems the World Liberation Front already did that."

"Alright then. That's all I really needed from you. Now then, I would be well within my rights as an officer of the Guard to execute you on the spot…" Zakim paled, "But luckily for you, I'm not the sort of person that would do that. Therefore, you're coming with me. Any objections?"

Zakim shook his head emphatically, "No! None at all!"

"Good. But before that, I have one more thing I need to attend to." Link drew the Master Sword, Zakim looked like he was about to faint and scrabbled backwards, but Link ignored him. "Fi! I need to talk to you!"

As the Master Sword began to glow again, Zakim gave out a shriek of terror and actually passed out. Fi emerged from the sword as she had done before, and floated before Link.

"Yes, master?"

"Can you tell me what the hell just happened? I've never picked up a sword before, never had any training with one, but suddenly I was moving at impossible speeds and blocking bullets with one! So what's going on? Is that some inherent power of the sword?"

Fi shook her head. "No. I believe that this is the result of your numerous uses of the sword in your past lives. I believe that being so near it once again awakened dormant abilities within your soul. So it's not so much the sword as it is you."

"Okaaaaaay. I'll accept that for now. What about the blinding flash."

"Ah. _That_ one was me. I calculated that you had a 99.9% chance of being executed on the spot if I did not intervene."

"99.9%?"

"One of them might have eaten too much cholesterol and gotten a heart attack. Or maybe been hit by a meteor. Or perhaps some time-traveler form the future might have come back to save you. Regardless, I didn't like those odds. So I 'lit things up', so to speak."

"I'm glad you did."

"I could hardly let the world's best hope against the return of Demise be executed by a handful of thugs in the middle of nowhere. And I… I…" Fi actually looked rather… _embarrassed_?

"Go on. I promise I won't laugh."

"I… I shouldn't. I _can't_."

"Fi…" Link reached out for her.

"Please, master, just leave me alone for a while. I… I need some time to think. Please do not disturb me unless you require my help."

With that, Fi vanished.

…

Zelda's eyes went wide. "You… you kn… know?"

Hadira nodded. "Yes, I believe that my agents have traced his identity. I must say, my president, that you didn't make it easy for us. Your lightning left him so char-grilled that just figuring out what his face looked like was hard. Regardless, we managed to identify the man through various objects on his person. His name was Hatar Ali. He was born of a Hylian father working on a construction team and a Gerudo mother studying to become a doctor. After her graduation, the couple were married and left to participate in the government's efforts to modernize the Gerudo homeland. Hatar apparently had a falling out with his parents when he was in his 20's, and he briefly disappeared into the desert, before leaving the Gerudo homeland for Hyrule City, where he found work as a tailor. He had been here for about 5 years now. He had never once seemed inclined to participate in anti-government activity before. Nonetheless, we've picked up all his known associates and are currently interrogating them. I doubt they'll reveal much, but it's worth a try. My agents have already been sent to pick up his parents as well. I'll have their first report on that within the hour."

"What was h… he like? An… any clues to wh… who he might… work for?

"Apparently he had become quite introverted since his decision to move here. He said little, but was always polite and helpful. He never revealed anything more about himself than he needed to. Suspicious behavior perhaps, but there are thousands like that in this city. He hardly seemed unusual."

"Until now."

She nodded. "Of course. We suspect that he may have been controlled, but we don't honestly know for sure. The wild magic you unleashed makes it difficult for my men to discover traces of more subtle types of magic. Of course, if he was controlled, the most likely suspect would be Ganondorf. It certainly fits his known actions and abilities, and he's been mysteriously silent these past few days."

"N…naturally."

It was just then that a frantic-looking man rushed through the doors. Zelda's guards raised their weapons, but the man only gasped breathlessly and said, "My president, we're under attack!"


	12. Death

Hadira jumped to her feet. "Under attack? Who? Where? How many? What's the situation? And for God's sakes why did you run in here to tell Zelda about it? She's half dead already, she can't do anything!"

The man was leaning against the wall and panting, trying desperately to catch his breath. He looked up. "Giant… giant worm… _thing. _On the… other… side… of the… city. Got to… get Zelda… out."

"What the hell are you talking about? Giant worm thing? Talk sense!"

"Just… just look."

Hadira rolled her eyes, but ran out the door to take a look, along with a few of Zelda's bodyguards.

From a room across the hall, there came a great cry of "HOLY SHIT!"

Hadira, now wide-eyed and looking very much panicked, came running back into the room, with Zelda's guards on her tail. The guards immediately began detaching all of the monitoring devices attached to Zelda. Hadira grabbed a short-range radio from one of the guards, who was too busy yanking equipment off of Zelda to object.

The guards began pushing Zelda's rolling bed as fast as they could. Hadira, meanwhile, was setting the frequency on the radio. When she had set it to her desired frequency, she started shouting into it as the team began ran down an office corridor.

"General Xavier! Come in! This is Hadira! What the hell's going on out there?"

"What the hell do you **think** is going on! There's a GIANT. FUCKING. WORM! It's rampaging around **my city**! That's what's going on!"

"Well what the hell are you **doing** about it?"

"What do you **think**, bitch? I'm trying to get everyone organized enough to fight back! Everyone's panicking, the base is confused, and if what soldiers on the street are saying is true, there's a whole goddammed army shooting at them out there! Where the hell are you?"

"I'm with Zelda. We're moving out to the bunker as fast as we can. How far is the beast from our position?"

"A mile at best. Maybe less. At the rate the goddamn thing seems to move, it could cover that ground in a minute or less."

"Shit!" Hadira swore. "Is it coming this way?" By now the team had reached the bottom floor of the hospital and was dashing down the ramp in the parking garage to where Zelda's armored car awaited.

"'fraid so."

"Damn it all to hell!"

"You're telling me!"

"Well where's the guard!"

"Where do you think? Half of it was scattered throughout the streets on patrol. The other half was back here. Then the damned worm announced itself by burrowing up right next to the officer's mess. Damn well killed or injured half of my officers when it smacked its tail up against the building! Now everything's confused, half the units here are leaderless, and half the units on patrol aren't reporting back in! I'm **trying** to consolidate enough force to effectively hit back, but some asshole's been issuing contradictory orders on the radio in my name, and any soldier I don't order around in person doesn't know who to trust!"

"Fuck! Any patrols in our area still responding?"

"Lemme check…. Yeah. Squad 205 is supposed to be less than a block from where you are now."

"What've they got?"

"Just foot soldiers."

"That'll do. Tell them to be ready to hitch a ride!"

"Roger."

"Now just get this shit fixed, ASAP!"

"I'm doing what I damn well can!"

"Just do that! Over and out!"

Hadira switched frequencies again as the group of bodyguards finished hoisting Zelda into the car and getting in themselves. Dashing into the car and slamming the door behind her, she shouted, "Driver! Be ready to pick up a few soldiers! Head for the bunker! Now!" The rather haggard looking man simply nodded and pressed his foot to the petal, hard. The car shot out of the garage like a rocket.

Hadira heard a slight *ping* on the window next to her. A glance revealed a small scratch in the bulletproof glass. As she'd suspected, snipers. Clearly this worm was no accident. A distraction, most likely. "An exceedingly clever one," she grudgingly acknowledged mentally, "I'd kill to know where they got this thing. And how they're controlling it. If they are." It occurred to her that not a few rebels were crazy enough to be willing to die to take a shot at Zelda. Maybe they had just let it loose in the general area and were counting on it to keep everyone occupied while they removed Zelda. Not a bad plan, as plans went. Assuming you didn't mind the chance of dying, that is.

Aloud, Hadira said into her radio, "Ethranbul? Come in, it's Hadira?"

"Yes?" came a rather flat monotone. Ethranbul always sounded like that. "I'm rather busy at the moment."

"Aren't we all? Look, I'll be at the bunker soon. I need you to implement Emergency Protocol 34. That's Emergency Protocol 34. Do you copy?"

"Right away, sir. Anything else?"

"No, just do it!"

At that moment, the last of squad 205 was climbing into the doors of the car. At five members, it put the car's total occupancy at 18. Hadira was hardly a woman given to emotion, and normally she wouldn't even have considered picking them up. However, it did occur to her that they might face armed opposition near or even at the bunker, and extra guns would come in handy. Besides, the delay was no more than a few seconds, as the soldiers were on the route they would have taken anyhow.

The car jerked forward again, winding its way around abandoned or wrecked cars, and occasionally hitting a civilian too slow to get out the way. "Good riddance," thought Hadira, "Society is better off without fools like yourselves."

Several more bullets pinged off the car, with none actually doing much more than scratching the paint. Hadira snorted. Really, was this the best they could do? They somehow got a monstrosity to rampage across the city, but couldn't get something heavier than rifles to shoot at them with? Why no mortars? Bazookas? Rockets? Perhaps her men had done better at rooting out weapons in the city than she had thought.

It was while she was musing on this that the car suddenly swerved to one side. Hadira was thrown hard against the side, and several of Zelda's bodyguards were thrown against her. For a rather small woman, the experience was quite painful.

Haidra pushed her way clear. "What the hell was tha-" Her mouth fell open and she froze. Not 100 yards to the side was the worm.

Close up, the thing was even more terrifying then it had been at a distance. It's body was several hundred feet long, composed of multiple segmented armor plates, colored a dark shade of maroon. It lacked legs of any kind. It was currently reared up, exposing a grey, wrinkled underbelly. It's head had three prominent spiked jutting out around its mouth, forming a triangle. It's mouth was wide open and circular, filled with circular rows of massive teeth. She could see no eyes.

One of the men got over his shock and threw open a door. Dashing out, he screamed as incoherent war cry and opened up at the thing's underbelly. It was too massive a target to miss, and several shots found their target.

"No you idiot!" Hadira cried, too late.

The worm looked down for the source of its annoyance. Seeing no living thing beyond the soldier, it swung its tail at him in an offhanded manner.

The massive armored tail crashed into the soldier and the car behind him. Both went flying.

Hadira was repeatedly crushed and flung all over the car as it flew through the air and rolled helplessly. She simply shut her eyes and shielded her face with her hands until the movement stopped. It couldn't have been more than 30 seconds, but it felt like an eternity to her. Eventually, the car stopped rolling.

Hadira lay sprawled on the ceiling of the car. She lay there in pain for several minutes, simply moaning. Eventually, she was able to get to her knees and look around.

The worm's strike had cut the car in two. Hadira had been in the rear, which had apparently rolled farther. She was surrounded by the corpses of Zelda's bodyguards. She complimented herself again on the wisdom of using her station to acquire numerous magical protective items. Otherwise she would have died like the rest of them.

She looked towards the front chunk of the car, where Zelda had been. It too was filled with corpses, but she couldn't see very much from here. Zelda had probably died… but no. Her experience with hunting rebels and traitors had taught her never to assume someone was dead until she saw the body. In this case, she absolutely must know. She must be sure. So she crawled out of the car. Shakily, she got to her feet, using the remains of the car to steady herself. She ached all over, but she knew she had to see for herself, so she forced herself to walk, step by step, towards the other half of the ruined vehicle.

It took Hadira several minutes to cross the few dozen yards that separated the two halves. Her weak legs gave out on her numerous times, and she had to crawl or drag herself much of the way. At last, however, she reached the wreck.

Inside the ruined vehicle were numerous uniformed corpses. Hadira couldn't immediately see Zelda, and wondered if she might have been flung out of the car, when she caught sight of a bit of purple underneath three of the soldiers. She tugged at the bodies. All of them weighed more than she did, so the process took several more minutes. Nonetheless, she managed to unearth Zelda. Remarkably, she was still breathing. It made sense for her to have some magical protection as well, Hadira presumed, particularly after what had happened in the palace.

Hadira stared at the helpless sovereign, her mind whirring.

Zelda's eyes flickered open. "Had… Hadira?"

A gleam entered Hadira's eyes and she gave a very faint smile, before picking up a knife from a dead soldier.

"So this is how it ends," thought Zelda "Funny, I never thought it'd be her."

Hadira raised the weapon high above her head. Zelda took one last look at her face before a white-hot lance of pain blurred her vision as a blade plunged through her heart and death claimed her body.

…

AN: Well, that was unexpected, wasn't it? I ask that you all please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter.


	13. Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

Dear Readers,

I apologize for the lack of updates in the past three weeks. My computer suffered severe damage, and I have only just gotten it back today. The weekly updates will resume. The next chapter will be forthcoming tomorrow.

Thank you for your patience,

-Snakestaff


	14. Skirmish

Link drove towards Hyrule City for several more hours after the incident with the Zora, his new prisoner remaining quiet even after waking up. Even after what he had been through, Link still didn't trust Zakim not to try to escape or even attack him while he was distracted, so he had handcuffed Zakim's left arm to the jeep itself, in a position such that he couldn't reach over to where Link sat driving.

On the journey, Link saw very clear signs of fighting. There were several sites with numerous bodies sprawled across the ground. Link observed that there were considerably more rebels than Hylian soldiers dead, but the mere fact that these had accumulated in the four days it had been since Link had last pasted this way boded ill. Clearly, some rebels had chosen to launch a major offensive in this province, although what exactly they hoped to achieve by attacking now Link still didn't know. He also encountered several burnt-out jeeps, as well as the hulks of civilian vehicles with heavy machine guns crudely mounted on top. In one area, he observed a burnt-out tank. Clearly the rebels had been getting bolder and more powerful. That could not be good.

Although Link's instincts as a soldier told him that he ought to be heading for the nearest military base to assist in crushing this insurgency, he forced himself not to. He had a more important mission after all. Zelda herself had dispatched him on it. And besides, one more officer (even if from an elite unit) was hardly going to make that much of a difference in the province. He had confidence in Zelda's ability to defeat the enemy, with or without him.

Link had been on the road for around three hours after his fight with the Zora, when he heard the distinctive *crackcrackcrack* of a machine gun being fired in bursts. There were yells in the distance, followed by a dull *thump* and a rising black column of smoke from behind a nearby patch of woodland, where the road lead. He immediately slowed down and stopped the truck as close as he dared to the woods. A few hundred yards wide at most, the sounds and the smoke seemed to be concentrated solely on the other side of it. He might have followed the road, which curved around it, but he felt that he would be too easily seen by anyone observing the flanks.

Instead, Link opted to creep as quietly as he could through the woods. He reasoned that the most likely scenario was a rebel ambush of an army column from the woods. Therefore, they probably wouldn't be concentrated on what might be behind them in the woods, leaving him free to attack from behind as he saw fit. Of course, the situation could be different. The army might be pinned in the woods, and the rebels on the roads. Or perhaps two rebel groups fighting each other. While these scenarios were less likely, creeping through the thick woodland would still allow him to observe the situation with the least likelihood of being observed. He could decide what to do from there.

As Link crept closer to the action, the noises ahead got clearer. There was the distinctive sound of a heavy machine gun being fired in bursts. This meant that whoever was firing it meant to kill with each burst, rather than merely suppress. In addition, there was the sound of a mortar being fired, accompanied by a second column of black smoke rising into the sky. These noises seemed to be coming from closer than the others. Link grinned. It meant that the heavy weapons had their backs exposed to him. Excellent. Link heard several rifles going off. The pattern suggested deliberate fire rather than wild shots fired in blind panic. This was both good and bad, as it suggested discipline in the army, but also in the rebels. Perhaps they were better trained than he had thought. A worrying notion. Last but certainly not least was the sound of the screaming. The wounded and the dying. Their screams sounded so pitiful Link felt a surge of pity for all of them, irrespective of their allegiance.

It took Link around a minute to get into a position where he could get a clearer view of the battle. He had been somewhat less stealthy than he could have been, but he thought that speed was more important. This thing could be over in a handful of seconds. Besides, the sounds of battle were loud enough to drown him out. Probably.

As Link had suspected, it seemed the rebels had set up an ambush for an army unit passing this way. He observed a truck with a large machine gun mounted on the back. The Hylian firing it seemed to be taking far too much pleasure in the act, laughing hysterically each time he fired a burst. The mortar was around 15 feet or so from the truck, crewed by two Moblins.

"Bad tactics," Link thought, "Leaving your two heavy weapons so close together makes for a convenient target. Better to split them up and force the enemy to split their fire." Still, he wasn't going to complain about stupid rebels.

Around the truck and mortar crouched around 20 or so other rebels of various species. Some wore masks, some did not. Another 5 or so were lying on the ground. 3 were dead, 2 thrashing and screaming.

A mere hundred yards or so away, on the road, were a pair of army jeeps and a smoking ruin of one. A crater behind them was the source of the other smoke column. From what Link could see, there were maybe 5 army men left alive, and those were forced to cower behind their vehicles as the machine gun repeatedly fired on them, punching holes through the jeeps with contemptuous ease.

Link knew if he didn't act fast, those on the road were dead men.

Acting quickly, he ran to get in range of the rebels. Link grabbed a grenade and hurled it with as much strength as he had towards the truck with the machine gun. Without pausing, he aimed in the direct of the mortar crew and fired three shots before dropping behind cover. His shooting had some success, as the Moblin firing the mortar went down, clutching his leg and screaming. However, Link had less luck with his grenade. He had underestimated the wind, which was blowing fast. The grenade followed the wind to land some 20 feet from the truck before exploding. The blast killed a Gerudo female and a Deku that had been lying flat in that area, but the machine gun was still active.

The rebels reacted quickly to this new threat. The machine gunner swiveled his weapon around and fired with wild abandon at the area near where the sound had come from, laughing madly all the time. Bullets whizzed around Link, kicking up leaves and dirt, and punching through trees as though they were wet toilet paper. Fortunately, the gunner's enthusiasm was considerably greater than his accuracy, as none of the bullets got within a few feet of Link. He knew it couldn't last though; several of the rebels had broken off of the army men and were slowly moving through the woods, intent on flanking his position. Link was under no illusions as to what would happen if they did. His mound of dirt and rotting wood might conceal him from the front, but he would be perfectly visible to anyone on the flank. He had no hope of relief and no hope of living if he stayed here. That left him with only one option.

Link grasped the hilt of the Master Sword and uttered a quick prayer to every god and goddess he knew.

Link ran quickly towards the nearest rebel on his flank, knowing that his only hope was to get to close quarters before the maniac with the machine gun could get a clear target on him. The surprised Hylian fired reflexively at the seeming madman charging him with a sword. Link deflected that shot without much effort. He closed the gap between himself and the rebel in mere seconds, fueled by the urgency of desperation. Without pause, Link plunged the Master Sword into the man's heart and withdrew it again, before rolling behind a nearby cluster of trees. The machine gunner, who had been (poorly) tracking him throughout his assault, now zoomed in on the cluster and loosed hundreds of rounds into the trees. One of them toppled, as though cut by a woodsman's axe. Link lay as close to the ground as he could, praying that his knowledge of machine guns held true here. However miraculous and supernatural they might be, Link knew his new abilities had limits. Deflecting dozens of heavy rounds per second definitely exceeded those. His only hope was that, in his insane glee, the gunner would overlook one important thing about machine guns…

"Come on," Link thought desperately, "Come on. Oh gods, _please_… There!"

At last, the break Link had been waiting for. The distinctive sound of a gun jamming. The fact that the gunner was loudly spewing profanities certainly didn't hurt that assessment. The gunner's wild enthusiasm for bullets had apparently made him forget that machine guns tend to jam if used too long without a break. Just as Link had hoped.

Link had gambled and won, but saw no need to press his luck. He scrambled to his feet and charged the gunner, ignoring the poorly aimed shots that whizzed far behind him. The gunner was scrambling to fix the thing and didn't even notice Link charging him until the last second. Link took his head off.

One of the rebels that had been attempting to flank Link turned to aim at him. Link shot him with his rapidly-drawn pistol. Had he been paying attention to such things, Link might have felt rather ridiculous. He was, after all, wielding an extremely decorative antique blade in one hand, and a modern pistol in the other. As it was, Link was far beyond caring about aesthetics.

As the rebels on the ground beside the truck turned to aim at him, he charged them too, with all the fury of a vengeful god. His sword tore through one… two… three of them in quick succession. He reached the mortar site, where the loader had been attempting to aim the mortar with the help of a Kokiri. Link removed the Moblin's head. The Kokiri reeled back, desperately going for her pistol, but Link was having none of it and stabbed her through the gut. She fell to the ground.

Seeing so many of their comrades impossibly die to a maniac wielding a sword proved to be enough to break the rebels' morale. They ran screaming in all directions, with only two even attempting to stay and fight Link. He stabbed one, and the other fell to a shot from the army soldiers.

Bereft of battle-rage and adrenaline, Link suddenly felt very exhausted and didn't bother to attempt a pursuit. Instead, he slumped against the truck as he waited for the soldiers to come and greet him. He didn't have to wait long. All four remaining soldiers came hurrying across the grass separating the road from the forest as soon as it was clear that the rebels weren't coming back.

The first one to reach Link looked upon him in awe.

"Gods, sir. You – whoever you are – just damned saved our asses. How in hell did you do that?"

"Trade secret, sergeant."

"What? How do you-" the man cut himself off with a look at his uniform and laughed, "Of course. I'm wearing rank insignia. Come to think of it, so are you. Lessee…" he looked at Link's sweat-drenched uniform before widening his eyes and snapping a salute, "Lieutenant, sir! Republican Guard too! What're you doing way out here in this backwards-ass dungheap?"

"State secret, I'm afraid, sergeant."

"Then why'd you take the time to stop and save us? We're nobodies. Surely you had some important secret-type stuff to do."

"I could hardly just sit here and let you die, sergeant. Regardless of rank or unit, we are all soldiers of Hyrule, sworn to serve our nation – and each other. No loyal soldier of Hyrule could have done otherwise."

"Well… thanks! We'd have been dead if it weren't for you! Anything we can do to repay you?"

"Two things."

"Name them."

"One, I've got a Zora prisoner in my jeep a little ways down the road. If you could take him off my hands it'd make my life a bit more convenient."

"Done. And the second thing?"

"We sleep together tonight."

The sergeant's eyes widened.

Link looked horribly embarrassed. "Not like _that_! It's getting late and I'd imagine we're all too tired to make the journey to the nearest military base. We'll need to camp out, and there's safety in numbers."

"Oh," said the sergeant with undisguised relief, "Of course."

…

It took Link and the four surviving soldiers (whose names turned out to be Sergeant Lastis, Private Huxley, Private Peterson, and Private Joanson) an hour or so to move their three vehicles together into a rough circle and set up a camp in the center. By this time, the sun was going down. Link had barely finished putting up his tent before falling into blissful sleep.

…

Regrettably, his sleep was interrupted a mere few hours later by an intruding voice.

"Hey, get up!"

Link mumbled and tossed around.

"I said, get up!"

That voice sounded somewhat familiar, but Link's sleepy mind couldn't place it.

"Do I have to start shouting? GET UP! NOW!"

Link dully opened his eyes. Once his vision cleared, he saw in the filtered moonlight who had been yelling at him.

Hovering about a foot off the ground, arms crossed and with a sour look on her face, was the floating, transparent form of Zelda.

...

AN: Please review and let me know what you think. Again, I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter out.

As a bit of a side note, I highly recommend Kamil the Awesome's story Legacy Revealed. Intriguing and original ideas so far, and well written too.


	15. Ghost

Adrenaline shot through Link's veins. With his conscious mind still trying to process the apparition in front of him, instinct took over. He scrabbled backwards, reaching for his pistol.

Zelda just raised an eyebrow. "Come on now, Link, you're smarter than that. Do you _really_ think that can hurt me?" She looked down at herself, "Well, any more than I've already been hurt, I guess."

Link's eyes didn't look like they could get much wider. "Zelda, you're… You're… a… a.. g-g-g"

"Ghost?" Zelda chuckled bitterly, "_So_ nice to see your powers of observation haven't been diminished by time. What clued you in? Perhaps how I traveled this distance so quickly? Or how I found you? Or maybe it was the tinsey-winsey little fact that **I'm a fucking floating transparent specter, you moron!**"

Link backed off a bit more. He'd never seen Zelda looking as enraged as she did right then.

"Great! Just _fucking_ great! I'm dead, my country's falling apart, and the only one who can even _see_ me is a **bloody goddamned fucking ignoramus!**"

But then again, Link decided, he'd never seen her dead before either.

"It's not _just_ that I offed in the middle of my own capital by one of my own ministers! It's not _just_ that the country that I sacrificed everything for is now falling to pieces! It's not _just_ that I get _expelled from the bloody afterlife_ with vague instructions and having to watch it all happen! _Noooooooooooo_! That would be too easy, wouldn't it? Now I'm stuck with the **one** guy it seems can see or hear me. The **one** guy who might be able to do a damned thing in time to stop it all, and **he's an ignorant fuckwit! FUCK THE GODS! FUCK THE AFTERLIFE! FUCK HYRULE! I HATE THEM! I HATE EVERY LAST GODDAMNED MOTHERFUCKIG ONE OF THEM!**"

Zelda proceeded on a several-minute long rant, where she cursed everything she knew (and some things she didn't) for putting her in this situation. She cursed the gods, the spirits, Link, her ministers, her army, her country, the rebels, Gannondorf, and her father, among other things. Her rant also included several incoherent screeches of rage, along with several curses that would make a hardened murderer bush and several Link was sure she'd just made up on the spot.

Finally, after about half an hour of nonstop screeching, cursing, and ranting about everything and everyone, Zelda stopped. Link just sat stock-still, fearing another outburst and in awe of how angry his usually-kind friend had become. Honestly, it kind of scared him.

Zelda looked into Link's eyes for about a minute before breaking contact – and collapsing. Or collapsing as much as a ghost could, at any rate.

Zelda started crying. Or, at least, trying to. Though she sobbed and sobbed, no tears came from her ghostly eyes.

Nonetheless, her sobbing was indisputably real. She cried and cried, for several minutes on end. Link looked on, concerned for Zelda, irrespective of the rather inappropriate comments she had just made about his mother, a garden slug, and deviant sexual behaviors. He tried to pat her on the shoulder, but his hand simply passed through her. She stopped and looked at him for a minute, with sad, bloodshot eyes. Then she resumed crying even harder.

After several more minutes, Zelda seemed to calm herself down enough to speak. "L-L-Link?" she whispered, as if she feared he would be angry with her.

"Yes?"

"I-I-I… Oh gods, I'm sorry!" seeming to forget what she was, Zelda flung herself at Link as if to embrace him… and passed right through. Link felt a chill sensation in his chest, where Zelda's torso now passed through him. She pulled herself out, looking as though she were about to break down again.

"No! No! It's alright! Don't cry. Just don't cry." Link said, wishing he could put his hand on hers or her head on his chest, or somehow find some other way to physically comfort Zelda. He'd never seen her this way before. Even at her own mother's funeral, she'd managed to look strong and dignified in her grief. Now she just looked pathetic, like a whipped dog. It didn't suit her.

"Shhhhh. Shhhhh. It's okay," Link said soothingly, "It's alright."

"R-r-r-really?"

"Yes."

"Oh gods, Link, I don't deserve you!"

"Zelda! Don't talk like that!" Link said, in a tone that was somewhat sharper than he intended.

"It's true! I sent you out alone on a suicide mission! I came to you in the middle of the night and cursed you, cursed your family, and damned you all to the seven hells a dozen times over, when nothing that happened was your fault! I couldn't blame you if you turned your back on me forever! Yet you don't even seem to be angry with me!"

"I know you didn't mean that."

"I meant every word! I wanted you to burn and agonize and scream! Gods, I'm a monster! You've always been there for me. Always been a good friend. And yet, I sincerely wanted you to suffer immeasurable agony for something that wasn't your fault! That's how I repaid your loyalty? Gods, how can you _not_ hate me?"

"Zelda," Link said with a soft smile, "I'm not angry with you. I don't hate you. I'm not angry because I know what you're going through. You were angry, furious. You would've burned the world at that moment, just because. I know because I've been through it. How do you think I felt the day my parents died? What was it? Two weeks ago? Less? Gods, it seems like an eternity ago now. But I felt like you felt. I hated everyone and everything. I just wanted to kill everyone. The gods, the spirits, people, you name it, I wanted it dead. I wanted to burn and rage and destroy until everything around me was ashes. Then I wanted to kill myself too. That's how you felt, right? You didn't want me to suffer because of anything I'd done. You wanted me to suffer for having the audacity to exist, right? The audacity to be a living reminder that there was someone out there who wasn't wallowing in pain and despair. The audacity to be someone who _isn't you_. Am I right?"

Zelda nodded.

Link smiled sadly. "I thought so. That night, the night my parents died, I claimed to my superiors to have been patrolling a street and been ambushed and beaten by a gang of thugs who robbed me. That was a lie. I went to a bar and spent all my money to get myself piss drunk. Apparently I started a barfight. I don't remember. I woke up the next morning with cuts, bruises, and a hangover from hell. I hated myself. I felt horrible for wanting to profane my parents' memories with violence. I hated myself for not even trying to bury them before going off to get drunk. I hated myself for being such a monster. But do you know what I saw next?"

Zelda shook her head.

"I saw _you_. Well, strictly speaking, I saw you on television. The news broadcast was covering your mother's funeral. I saw you walking beside the casket. I saw your face. Saw your eyes. I saw the pain in there. I knew what you must be feeling. How you must be feeling devastated. And yet, you were there. You weren't raging on the streets. You weren't drinking yourself shitfaced to cover up the pain. You weren't drowning in guilt. No, you did it with dignity, controlled yourself, and went about your duty. I thought, 'If she can do it, then I damn well should'. So I reported back, made up some shit, and went back to work. I've gotta admit though, I probably still took too much pleasure in doing it." He grinned sheepishly. "Still, Zelda, listen to me: raging at the world and then drowning yourself in guilt won't solve anything. You've got to do what needs to be done, whether or not you feel up to it. I learned that from you. Now maybe you can learn it from me."

Zelda looked at him, stunned.

"You… you mean that? What you said was true?"

"Every word."

"You aren't just making this up to make me feel better?"

"Not in a trillion years."

"… Oh gods, Link, I wish I could kiss you."

...

AN: Welp, here's the next chapter. As ever, reviews would be wonderfully appreciated.

Sorry for the slight delay: I've been on vacation.


	16. A Night to Remember

Author's Note: Sorry again for the delays. Part of it can be explained in that some jackass spilled coffee on my computer and then ran off while I was at Starbucks. However, the other half of the explanation is that I'm starting to feel unmotivated. Seriously, according to my last chapter got 2,000 different viewers and over 5,000 views. How many reviews did I get? **Two**. Come one guys, your feedback is the main reason I'm doing this. So please, can you just review? Or at least give me a comment to the affect that you actually want this story to continue? Because if you don't care, I honestly don't know why I should.

…

Gannondorf was angry when he heard the news. _Very_ angry.

"Dammit all to hell." He thought to himself, "This wasn't supposed to happen. Not yet. Now what? I still need him to get…"

His thoughts were interrupted by a whimper from the Hylian now laying prostrate on the floor. Gannondorf glared at him. The luckless man whimpered and cowered even more, before managing to squeak out, "S-s-sorry, m-m'lord"

Gannondorf looked down at the man, considering him. "Oh, what the hell? The bad news is hardly his fault. He's more valuable dead than alive anyway. Still, lessons need to be taught…"

"Count yourself fortunate that I'm in a pleasant mood today, captain. I'll let you live."

"Oh, thank you thank you thank-"

"_But_," continued Gannondorf, without pause, "You still failed to remain silent, as you were told. Therefore I think that an acid bath is in order. I'm feeling merciful today – we'll just dissolve your feet. By morning you'll be good as new."

The poor man's eyes widened in fear but he knew better than to protest. He said nothing as a pair of Darknauts lifted him bodily from the ground and left to carry out Gannondorf's sentence.

"Now then, where was I" Gannondorf muttered to himself as soon as they had left his chamber. "Oh, right. How to ensure he gets what I need him to. Let's see…" it took less than 30 second for Gannondorf's mind to hit on the solution. "Of course," he chuckled to himself, "It's so simple."

…

In the aftermath of Zelda's "tragic demise", Hadira had moved quickly to secure control over the capital. Within a handful of hours, over 90 officers from the Republican Guard that she believed to be against her had been arrested or simply shot on the streets by Interior Ministry agents. The shootings had, of course, been blamed on the rebels.

Throughout the day, military efforts to drive off the worm had proven futile, as there was too much confusion from false broadcasts, as well as the worm's ability to rapidly dig through the earth. Hadira had been greatly worried about what to do about it until, strangely, it apparently just got bored and went home. Or it had left and not come back, at any rate. Whether it was intelligent enough to get bored was a discussion for another day, as was why it had showed up in the first place.

After assuming some semblance of control over the capital, Hadira found herself in the middle of an even greater crisis situation than before. Thousands of people had lost homes, workplaces, friends, and family. The government was seen as being completely unable to defend its people. Mass protests calling for the end of the government gripped the streets. Some had degenerated into riots. Nowhere seemed safe. Nowhere seemed immune. The people were panicked.

And that was before they found out Zelda was dead.

She had tried to keep it quiet, of course. Tried to cajole the medical team and soldiers that had examined and carried off her body to keep it to themselves. But one could hardly contain an event of that magnitude for very long. She didn't know who had leaked the news and, frankly, it didn't matter.

Now everyone was panicked. Those who weren't protesting were hiding in their homes and praying or simply fleeing the city altogether. The Guard and the Interior Ministry together couldn't handle the sheer terror gripping the population. Nothing they did seemed to help. No one trusted the government to keep them safe anymore. After all, it couldn't prevent a monster from devastating half the city, or even keep its own leaders alive. How could they trust it to keep them safe? Church and shrine attendance skyrocketed in mere hours, with people beseeching the gods they had previously ignored to help them. Gun shops all over the city sold themselves out as people bought weapons to protect themselves and their families. Interior Ministry agents even reported several loose neighborhood militias forming to protect themselves from what was coming. Whatever that was.

And, just to make matters worse, communications had been lost in the attack, so Hadira couldn't even contact other army units for support. How long before they received the news? How long before ambitious generals decided they'd rather like to lord it over their provinces in absence of a central government? How long before loyalist generals decided she was an illegitimate usurper? Hadira didn't know.

Reading over yet another report of protests in the streets and dissatisfaction with her in the ranks of the Republican Guard, Hadira buried her face in her hands and cursed herself.

"Why in the hell did I want this? Why didn't I listen to my rational side? Why the fuck was I stupid enough to do it then, in the middle of our worst crisis? Why couldn't I have just let Zelda solve this and quietly poisoned her afterwards?" she thought to herself.

She knew the answer, of course. She had succumbed to an impulse. She'd wanted to rule, and that seemed to be a good time to remove the current leadership. She hadn't even considered what might happen next. That had always been a failing of hers. If she felt too strongly about something, she was liable to act on impulse without thinking about the consequences. Her father had warned her about that, saying it would get her into trouble one day.

"I'm just glad you didn't live to see it, papa." Hadira thought, "Your little girl really fucked up this time."

Now she was left with a nearly unmanageable situation. What in all the blasted infernal hells was she supposed to do? She didn't have nearly enough resources, and she had no way to contact any more, save by messenger. She had already sent several, of course, but it would be hours before they would return, and who knew what news they might bring?

Hadira sighed. The past was past, as her mother always said, and you couldn't change it. You just had to take what you were given and move forward.

Unfortunately for her, what she had been given was a ticking time bomb.

…

Colonel Mahmoud al-Ramzy, a Gerudo, had his own problems at the moment. Specifically, his problem was that his base in the Gerudo desert was currently being besieged, he had no communications, his troops seemed to be coming down with some sort of disease, and, oh yeah, his vehicles had had their gas tanks filled with sand.

"Great. Just fucking great." He thought, as he looked out his window for the hundredth time that night. As before, there were period flashes from around the base and out in the desert as his men exchanged fire with the enemy. He had no idea who they were, what their numbers were, or what their position was. His men were dug in heavily though, and under normal circumstances he would have been confident that he could hold out here for weeks.

Unfortunately, these were not normal circumstances.

Nearly one out of every three of his troops seemed to be coming down with something. Symptoms including screaming, writhing on the ground, and passing out in a pool of one's own vomit. His medics had no idea of what was going on, where it had come from, or how to stop it. He had no idea how it was spreading, although of course he'd immediately checked the food and water supplies. They appeared uncontaminated, thank the gods.

Colonel al-Ramzy was looking over a tactical map of the area again, when he noticed a sudden drop in the moonlight coming in his window. The Gerudo Desert being almost entirely cloudless, this was not supposed to happen. He stepped over to the window to take a look. Glancing upwards, he saw a vast black shadow obscuring the moon and stars. A shadow that seemed to be coming right down on top of him.

Colonel Ramzy opened his mouth and screamed.

It was the last thing he ever did.

…

On the other side of Hyrule, General Hans von Miering was reading over a message had he had just received. It was fairly blunt:

_Dear General von Miering,_

_It is my sad duty to report to you that our beloved president, Zelda Hylia, was killed this morning. In a tragedy that has shocked us all, a monstrous creature of unknown origin and purpose attacked Hyrule City earlier today, causing over 7,000 deaths, 22,000 injuries, and leaving much of our capital in ruins. Among these casualties was our leader. She died when the beast attacked a convoy attempting to transport her injured form to safety. Our communications are down, hence the necessity of delivering this to you by messenger. You are ordered to immediately move 15,000 of your troops to the capital to aid in restoring order and delivering humanitarian aid to our people._

_-Hadira, Minister of the Interior and 2__nd__ Administrator of Martial Law_

He poured over the note several more times, shocked at the implications. Hyrule City was in ruins. Zelda was dead. Hadira had taken power. Zelda was dead! A lone monster had done so much damage. **Zelda was dead!**

The shock of losing her was almost too much for the 67 year-old. Though he was her elder by many years, he still had had great respect for her, and for her father. He had met her several times, and each time she had come off as genuinely concerned about the welfare of her people, yet not so sentimental as to avoid doing what need to be done. He respected that. Some leaders were too soft-hearted, refusing to acknowledge that there were times when force was genuinely the best (or the only) solution to a problem. Others were simply merciless tyrants, caring for nothing but their personal power and wealth. Zelda and her father had been neither, in his mind.

Hadira though? She was something else. He growled at the mere thought of her. She was nothing more than a duplicitous, power-hungry snake, in von Miering's opinion. It certainly wouldn't have surprised him if she'd been behind Zelda's untimely end. He'd warned the Hylias about trusting her, and their allowing her to reach such a high position was one of the biggest criticisms he had of them. If she was in power now, the country could not help but devolve into a personal tyranny of herself and a few cronies at the expense of the people. He would not facilitate that. He could not. For the country's sake, she must not be allowed to gain or consolidate power. Obeying her orders was out of the question.

"Gather up the officers, Lieutenant Horowitz," he told his nearby assistant, "We have a battle to plan."


	17. The Night Goes On

Link and Zelda sat in silence for several minutes. Ocassionally, they looked at each other, but mostly they just stared at their feet.

Link glanced up at the same moment as Zelda did. He quickly looked down, his cheeks flushed with blood. It was a little hard to tell, what with it being dark and Zelda being a ghost and all, but Link could've sworn that she was as flushed as him.

As time passed, Link's emotions began to fade and his rationality began to reassert itself. Zelda was dead. _Dead_. Who killed her? Why? Who was in charge now? What was going on? What was to become of his mission? He had to know, and there was only one way for that to happen, regardless of whether or not it embarrassed him.

Link looked up. "Zelda?" he asked.

She looked up, her face now a bit more under control. "Yes?" she said in what was barely above a whisper.

"I need-" Link cleared his throat, "I need some information."

"Oh," Zelda looked crestfallen, and disappointment was clear in her tone. Link felt bad for asking, but he needed to know. Zelda shook her head and her disappointed expression disappeared. "What do you want to know?"

"Who killed you? How? Why?"

"Oh, _that_." Zelda wrinkled her nose, "I was killed by Hadira. After the car I was in was destroyed by a giant worm, she stabbed me through the heart. Hurt like hell. At least it was quick. As to why?" she shrugged, "I assume she wanted my position. What for, I don't know. Seems stupid to take over at the worst possible moment. Honestly, if it weren't for the suffering she'd probably cause, I'd be glad to have been relieved of my position. You have no idea how much responsibility weighs on you."

"I think I have some idea." said Link, gesturing to the Master Sword.

Zelda raised an eyebrow. "_You_ ever try to hold a country back from civil war?"

"Well, no."

She crossed her arms and smirked triumphantly, "Then don't try acting like you did. I'd have traded places with you in a heartbeat."

Link chuckled, "Yeah? I'd like to see you trying to deal with what I had to."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"How about a giant, fire-breathing necro-snake?"

"Ha! Is that all? Try dealing with a country ready to fall to pieces! You couldn't just hit things with a sword and make them all better then."

"Yeah, you just get your flunkies to hit them with swords for you."

The two laughed. It felt good to laugh.

…

Hadira, meanwhile, was not laughing. As a matter of fact, she was running. Running for her life.

Unfortunately, it seemed that several officers of the Republican Guard hadn't exactly taken well to her arrests and shootings of those among their ranks. To make matters worse, not a few influential figures in the Ministry of the Interior hadn't liked where this whole thing was going, either. While many did hunger for more power, they hardly wanted to be solely responsible for cleaning up the mess that Hyrule was devolving into. Furthermore, they had no desire to take the lion's share of the blame if thing fell to pieces completely. Which, to be fair, they stood a good chance of doing. If the Minister of the Interior was the one officially ruling when it happened, she and her department would take the majority of the blame in the eyes of the public and, worse yet, the military. They had therefore decided to object to her rule. Violently.

"Everyone's a critic," Hadira thought bitterly as she fled.

Tanks and trucks were rolling into Interior Ministry HQ, the gates opened by some collaborator within. Soldiers from the Guard and the breakaway faction of the Ministry were engaging a rearguard of forces loyal to her. She didn't expect them to last long.

As soon as she'd heard of the force moving her way, she'd realized the jig was up, at least for now. She didn't have the strength to resist the conspirators, and she was hardly the type to waste her forces and die herself in some futile last stand.

"He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day" her father had always told her. She'd taken that to heart.

And so it was that Hadira found herself fleeing the city on foot, surrounded by a few dozen loyal commandos. Fortunately for her, paranoia was practically a job requirement, and so she had eventualities in place for just such an event. There were several safe houses scattered throughout the country she could head to. More importantly, there was a major base of the armed wing of the Interior Ministry under the control of her brother some 50 miles from Hyrule City. There she could sit out the worst of the fighting and be ready to move in her forces to reclaim control from whoever emerged victorious in this civil war. Not a perfect plan, all things considered, but an adequate one, for now.

"Maybe I'll think of something better." Hadira told herself as she and hers disappeared into a tunnel on the outskirts of the city.

…

General Von Miering was, overall, pleased with the speed and efficiency his commanders were gathered up, especially considering it was still several hours to sunrise. Several Brigadier Generals and Colonels lined the edge of the table in his staff room.

"Gentlemen," he said in a slow, solemn tone, "It is my unfortunate duty to inform you that Supreme Commander Zelda Hylia is dead."

Several of his men let out moans, most hung their heads.

"Furthermore, Minister of the Interior Hadira has declared herself Administrator of Martial Law."

At the mention of her name, numerous faces darkened. The Interior Ministry was not well liked among the military.

"As you all must know, she has no right to do this. By law, that title should go to the highest-ranking military officer currently available. Therefore, this represents nothing more than an illegal coup by the Interior Ministry. As such, we cannot let this stand."

Several of his men cheered or applauded at that. The idea of wreaking vengeance on the Interior Ministry for its crimes and corruption (real or imagined) raised their spirits immensely.

"We must immediately begin ascertaining her forces, as well as those not prepared to go along with this illegal putsch. I want each of you to select men you trust implicitly, and then send them to the officers whose names you will find in the papers in front of each of you. Order them to ascertain their loyalty as best they can, as well as those of their men. Report back to me as soon as you can. In the meantime, I want this camp on full alert. Dismissed."

…

Link and Zelda laughed together for hours. They told jokes, stories, and generally had fun as best they could. After all the stress both had been through, this was a welcome relief. At last, Link began to grow weary again.

"Zelda," he said with a yawn. "Sorry to end this so soon, but I've gotta get some more shuteye or I'll never be able to do anything tomorrow."

She nodded, "I understand." She got up. "I'll see you at dawn, then?"

"That's fine," muttered Link as he lay down and closed his eyes. Within minutes he was asleep once more.

"He snores," Zelda thought, "Can' believe I didn't notice that before."

With that, the phantom of Zelda drifted off into the night.

…

Not so far away, on a rocky hilltop, a figure stood watching.

"So there you are, Zelda."


	18. Another Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

Dear Readers,

It's been some time, hasn't it? I apologize profusely for the delays here. I was on a vacation for around nine days, then my computer suffered the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. After finally receiving it back, I confess that I was somewhat unmotivated. I felt kind of ignored.

Regardless, I have overcome that now. I plan on uploading a new story later in the day, or perhaps tomorrow. A new chapter for this should come soon afterwords.

Sincerely,

Snake Staff


	19. Morning

Link awoke to the sound of people angrily shouting. He yawned, stretched, and rubbed his eyes.

"That time already? What are they doing up so early?"

After dressing himself in his field uniform, Link crawled out of his tent, to find the surviving soldiers clustered around a small fire. Over it hung a small, primitive frying pan. Link smelled bacon. His mouth watered and his stomach grumbled.

"It's mine!"

"No, mine! You got the last piece last time!"

"That's a lie!"

"Is not!"

"Is so!"

And so it went. It was easily apparent what they were arguing about: they had eaten every piece of bacon but one, and found themselves in a rather childish disagreement about who should get it. Link sighed.

"_If this is the state of our army,_" Link thought, "_We don't stand a chance. Soldiers fighting like three year-olds over a small piece of bacon? How childish._"

"Gentlemen, gentlemen," he said, striding out of his tent. "I think it's clear who should get the last piece: me!"

"_So I'm hungry,_" thought Link, "_So sue me._"

"Yeah, not happening."

"Not a chance kiddo."

"I'm not a kid! I'm older than I look!"

"Uh huh."

"Sure."

"Really!"

"Oh yes."

"We _totally_ believe you."

Link sighed. "Ok, how about this: in repayment for saving your lives yesterday, you give me that bacon. I'm starving."

The two looked at each other.

"Alright," said one, grudgingly.

"Fine," went the other after a moment.

"Thank you."

Link sat back to make the most of the bacon.

"_Honestly, I don't know what they were fighting about. It's burnt._"

…

Morning in Hyrule City did not go so well. In the wake of the overnight coup d'état, countless people had fled the city. Most people who could were leaving. That included a disproportionate number of wealthy people.

More importantly, they were taking their money with them as they fled. Hyrule Central Bank had already reported another sharp increase in the number of withdrawls, as people grabbed what they could and fled. Economic collapse began to look like an inevitability, rather than a danger. Officers and soldiers openly worried about where their next paychecks would come from, and whether they would even be worth anything. Much of the city's infrastructure had already been destroyed, and there were few looking to invest in the new leadership.

The new regime found itself in an even tighter spot than the luckless Hadira.

"No, tell him he most certainly may not leave!" shouted one angry colonel into a telephone, before slamming it down.

"What is it this time?" asked a nearby general.

"Captain Xavier requested an immediate leave for "medical reasons". The fact that his entire family already fled the town, with all his belongings, makes me feel that this is not an entirely legitimate request."

"Agreed."

…

Gannondorf stalked angrily through the woods, a nervous-looking Deku following close behind him.

"This had better work, Joras. Or you're in for more pain than you care to imagine."

Joras swallowed. She could imagine quiet a lot.

"It will, my liege. Just wait and see."

"Then give the signal to begin."

"Right away!"

…

Link said goodbye to the soldiers and their commander, and watched as they drove their own way. He then began to start picking up himself. Then he noticed that the soldiers had left a lot of crap for him to clean up. He sighed.

"_Why does the neat freak always have to pick up after everyone?_"

As Link cleared away his tent, he kept an eye open for Zelda.

"_Where is she, damn her?_" he looked at his watch, "_We're going to be late. I still have to access the central archives from whoever is in charge there and get the information I need. The capital's a long way from here and who knows what's going on? Better get there sooner than later or I'll find that some giant space tick stepped on my information or some shit like that. Nothing is too weird anymore._"

After standing around for half an hour, Link finally gave up.

"_Screw it, she found me once. She'll find me again._"

With those inspiring words of loyalty to his leader, Link drove off and (presumably) left her behind.

After a mere mile or so had passed, Link heard more gunfire in the woods nearby.

"_Not again!_"

…

AN: Again, sorry I took so long. Will try and get back on a schedule. Still, I am working on another story now (MLP: Chaos in Equestria) so I may or may not always be as timely as you like. Rest assured that I remain committed to seeing this through to the end.


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